CLUB PROJECTS

A small park outside of the downtown Port Orchard / Kitsap Library. Throughout the month of July and into the first few weeks of August you will see changes taking place on the west facing wall, under the mural. Working with Kitsap Transit, we are beautifying a space once filled with blacktop. The blacktop has been taken away, and pilings border this new maritime parkette. Expect to see benches, sod, a bike rack, and flowers by the end of August. What a nice place to read a book, enjoy a latte, or wait for the Kitsap Transit Foot Ferry.

Port Orchard Rotary Community Improvement Fund will benefit education. In celebration of Rotary's centennial our club has chosen to award a grant of $20,000 to the new South Kitsap Public Education Foundation for a virtual learning center.
read the Bremerton Sun news article.

Rotary House is an ongoing project that involves both Port Orchard Rotary and South Kitsap High School. Several years ago (circa 1994) Rotary initially invested in building materials and property, on which High School students built a house. The house was subsequently sold, the profits for which were reinvested into more buildable land and led to another Rotary House, and so on... Our club "reimburses" the school with building equipment and supplies and offers vocational scholarships to students. The project has now evolved to include many different classes besides shop classes, including home economics, marketing, landscaping and interior design. Thanks to some very dedicated Rotarians and High School teachers this ongoing effort is a fine example of how Rotary conducts service to the community.

"Our collaboration with South Kitsap High School and the vocational program of building homes for the community, while building future entrepreneurs, creates a pride I can not put into words." - Jan Angel

"This project offers a truly unique environment for SKHS students to learn the complexity and physical work required in home building. The genius of this program is its self-sustaining financial formula. It is impressive to watch a relatively modest capital investment yield such powerful long term benefits both to the students who gain such invaluable experience and to members of the community who get such a well-built home." - Brian Hughes

Etta Projects While living as an exchange student in Bolivia, Port Orchard exchange student Etta Turner was the victim of a tragic bus accident. As a dedication to her memory, her mother, father and step-father established Etta Projects. Our club had a special fund raising moment in the 2004 Crab Feed & Auction to support Etta's namesake and raised several thousand dollars. To learn more about this wonderful charity, please visit their website.
http://ettaprojects.org

Fresh Water Wells Our International service arm is participating in an effort to bring drinking water, via wells, to people in remote third world locations such as India. Under the Clean Water Initiative Project of Rotary International...with the help and leadership of our David Hedger we were able to get our District to qualify Ten Hole Wells in the Southern State of Kerala, India. These ten wells will service ten rural villages and approximately 68,100 people. The cost of each well completely installed and operating willb e $670 each. More wells are needed in various parts of Asia and Africa and we will be identifying and sponsoring them in the upcoming fiscal year.
 
The Rotary Interact club will also be sponsoring the construction of wells in various parts of the world. Under the leadership of Debbie Schmidt, Glenn's wife, they have already collected enough funds through car washes etc. to fund at least one well.

Water Closet / Concession Stand In 2003 we funded a community driven project to build a water-closet/concession stand at the South Kitsap High School.

San Jose del Cabo "If you talked to Wayne Tripp and mentioned Cabo San Marcos you’d learn that Rotary is supporting an elementary school that runs in two shifts to provide an education and a healthy meal and basic medical care to many of that city’s children." - Brian Hughes

Kids First Vietnam A local Bainbridge Island organization that our club has lent support to - their mission closely aligning the intent of Rotary. Our own Niels Nielsen is particularly involved and travels there once a year to lend a hand to the ever improving village.

Their Mission: "Our projects focus on generating greater international and regional awareness of the results of modern violent conflict.

We work very closely with our partners in developing a common agenda and networking with local, regional and international organizations.

In Vietnam we work jointly with the People's Committee of Quang Tri Province, the Foreign Relations Department within the People's Committee of Quang Tri Province and the Women's Union, which is a national association that works to improve the health and welfare of women and children throughout Vietnam."

See their sitehttp://kidsfirstvietnam.org/
Read what Rotary International has to say
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/rotarian/0309/eastwest.html

Roundabout at Bethel and Mile Hill. An ongoing beautification project, members gather about 4 times a year to weed and plant and eat doughnuts.