Westlake-Bay Village Rotary project aids poor in Nicaragua

Rotarians with the many “Shoe Boxes” they filled with daily necessities for the Nicaraguan poor. Photo by Denny Wendell

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In 1998 Hurricane Mitch devastated the town of Chinandega, Nicaragua. Hundreds of families became displaced and resorted to subsisting off the city dump. An Italian missionary, Father Marco Dessy, began an aid program for those families, and in subsequent years many Rotary Clubs joined the cause.

Rotary District 6630 has been participating for the past 12 years in the “Shoe Box” project under the leadership of Rotarian Jack Young. For the project, Rotarians fill special shoe boxes with daily necessities and some fun items to be delivered to the children in Chinandega who are living in poverty near the dump.

In 2018 Jack turned project coordination over to the Westlake-Bay Village Rotary Club. We are proud to say that 24 clubs in our district combined to send 715 shoe boxes and 40 bags filled with supplies to Nicaragua for pregnant women there.

The completed boxes were collected at Westlake Porter Public Library then taken to a Westlake business, RAM Sensors, who generously allowed us to store 10 pallets worth of boxes until they could be picked up for delivery. From there, V3 Transportation donated a truck and driver to take the boxes to Waterloo, Iowa, from where they will ultimately be sent to Chinandega, Nicaragua. Westlake-Bay Village Rotary is extremely grateful to our public and private sector partners for helping make this possible.

Westlake-Bay Village Rotary Club is a fantastic service organization that donates money to local organizations such as Meals on Wheels, Connecting for Kids and Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, as well as engaging in several service projects throughout the year. The club meets every Wednesday from 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the community room of the Bay Village police station. Visit our website at westlakerotary.org or call 440-250-5450 for more information.