The Rotary Club of Austin-Southwest has been involved in the matching grant program of Rotary International for years. However, due to the smaller size of our Club and the modifications in the matching grant program that require thousands of dollars to fund a program, it has not been possible to individually participate in the matching grants program for several years. We have missed these international projects with our Mexican partner clubs.
Our member, Jack Gabig, lives part-time in Rosarita, Mexico, south of San Diego and participates with the Rotary Club of Rosarita when he is there. The Rotary Club of Rosarita, Mexico is a small club with a limited budget.
This Club assists a school (CAM Laboral) which serves challenged kids who have severe autism, ADDHD, intellectual or emotional disabilities, visual and hearing impairments as well as motor impairments. Mexico supplies the building and utilities, but not much more for these students. Through our member, Jack, we have put money in our budget to match with the Rotary Club of Rosarita to help meet some of the needs of the CAM Laboral school. To date, the Rotary Club of Austin-Southwest has donated over $5000 for needed school equipment, culinary equipment for vocational training, construction of 2 offices and helped finance the installation of an irrigation system.
We are happy to have our own “mini” Matching Grant with the Rosarita Rotary Club of Mexico.