Local service club raises funds for Guatemala jobs project
Photos from guatemalathrive.org.
Funds will support jobs, health care, and services in Highlands
– The Rotary Club of Paso Robles has raised $70,000 for a global grant project aimed at creating jobs and supporting families in the Guatemalan Highlands.
The club’s 80 members contributed to the effort after learning about economic conditions in a remote region of Guatemala. The project, titled “Thrive at Home: Keeping Families Together by Developing Employment in the Guatemalan Highlands,” is designed to create 500 living-wage jobs, support 2,500 people, and provide affordable health care and support services during its first three years.
“Although we did set up an eyeglass clinic in Costa Rica once, our club is usually focused on local projects such as supporting cancer patients, environmental cleanup, and scholarships,” said Joe Irick, incoming president of the Rotary Club of Paso Robles.
Irick said the club had not initially planned to take on an international project.
“Getting involved in a big way to help keep families together, safe and thriving at home in the Guatemalan highlands was just not something we’d had our sights set on — until one day, a visiting Rotarian shared her stories about the impoverished people in a remote area of the world, but only a few hours away — in dire need of a helping hand,” Irick said.
Leslie Baer, a member of the Rotary Club of Huntington Beach, shared her experiences volunteering in Guatemala and told the story of a man named Diego during a club meeting.
“At 18, Diego came to the U.S. to work for just a few years to build a house for his mother so she ‘wouldn’t die on a dirt floor,’” Baer said. “It took him three years to pay off his debt to the person who brought him to the U.S., three years to build his mother’s house, and now he feels trapped since he has no job to go home to.”
In the region, unemployment is estimated to be near 80%, according to the club. Organizers said the project will focus on mentoring and microloans for entrepreneurs, professional training for jobs in demand, and improving profitability for local farmers by increasing crop yields and lowering distribution costs.
“The grant will do this by working with experts both to increase crop yields and lower the costs of distribution,” Irick said.
Irick said Baer’s presentation prompted strong support from club members.
“They were incredibly engaged and generous, and without hesitation took the cause on as their own!” Irick said.
Club members raised $25,000 through personal donations, making the Rotary Club of Paso Robles the lead contributor to the project, which includes 17 clubs across 11 districts in eight states and two countries.
Rotary districts can match club donations, and District 5240 provided a full match of $25,000, bringing the total to $50,000.
“It is the Rotary way to reach across Clubs, Districts, and borders to help others,” Irick said.
The project is under review by The Rotary Foundation. If approved, it will receive additional matching funds from the organization’s World Fund, bringing the total generated by the Paso Robles club to $70,000.
Organizers said the lower cost of living in Guatemala increases the impact of the funds.
Members of the Rotary Club of Paso Robles are planning to visit Guatemala in January to participate in the project’s implementation.
