Rotary Club of Negril, Sunrise recognised by Rotary International
NEGRIL, Westmoreland – After two years in the making, the Rotary Club of Green Island, Sunrise has been officially chartered into Rotary International. As such, the club is now recognised by Rotary International and is therefore qualified to obtain international funding for worthy projects it wishes to undertake.
A function was held to mark the occasion and the club’s first annual executive installation ceremony at the Charela Inn Hotel in Negril on Saturday.
Since the humble beginnings of the service club in March 2019, it has undertaken several projects, which include the provision of back-to-school packages and a gender bias and youth awareness conference for secondary school students.
Green Island, Sunrise president, Peter Irving, said the club currently has in place a five-year plan which will focus on youth and community development.
These include educational sessions for youths involved in farming, a pedestrian crossing installed at the Green Island taxi stand in the vicinity of the Rhodes Hall High School, the introduction of a soup kitchen in the Green Island area and the creation of a green space in the Green Island community.
The club also intends to work closely with a rotary club in Texas to develop a sports and cultural complex in the area.
“We give, not because we have a lot to give, but because we know what it is like not to have, and by extension, we know the implications of not having. Let us not underestimate our contributions no matter how small you may think they are. Government alone cannot fulfil all our community needs and this is where our actions become so important,” Irving told the clubbites.
Member of Parliament for Hanover Western, Tamika Davis, who underscored the importance of a service club, stressed the impact it has on lives, especially during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The first-time MP pledged her support for the new club.
“I find that your goals and your objectives are aligned to mine [as MP], stated Davis.
“I pledge today to do all I can to help you to achieve your objectives and that I too, is a part of how we socialise and will ensure that our communities are working together, it is the togetherness that will help us to achieve our goals.”
Co-founder of the club, Angela Hay, was recognised during the function for her contribution in getting the club started and accepted by Rotary International. The other co-founder is Lillie Barrows, who was absent from the function.
Assistant District Governor Elaine Allen Bradley, who is in charge of five rotary clubs in Hanover, Westmoreland and Black River in St Elizabeth, said the new club will serve a rapidly developing community.
“And so, the Rotary Club of Green Island, Sunrise, they are well-positioned in that community to help the Member of Parliament [Tamika Davis] to develop that community because the needs are there,” she argued.
Bradley noted that with the Green Island club placing emphasis on agriculture, and with Rotary International placing a focus on the environment, the new club will be able to get funds to undertake environmental projects.