Monday’s weekly virtual meeting of the Rotary Club of St. Joseph-Benton Harbor was a truly global affair as a non-Rotarian supporter on duty for Whirlpool in Milan, Italy was “delivered” the Rotary District 6360 Golden Trowel Award.
The prestigious award was presented to Casey Tubman, Vice President of Product Marketing, currently deployed to Milan, who was nominated by the club for his work with the Interact Clubs and their efforts in the Dominican Republic.
The Rotary Club of St. Joseph-Benton Harbor sponsors the Interact Clubs at St. Joseph High School, Upton Middle School, and Lake Michigan Catholic High School and Middle School, and has embarked on annual trips to Batay 106 in the Dominican Republic, dating back to 2015. Unfortunately, the 2020 trip this year was cancelled due to COVID-19. Tubman was introduced to the efforts through his three children’s experience with Interact, and has been a chaperone on three of the five trips. He was a driving force behind the #Interact4DR effort.
Tubman expressed his gratitude for the recognition, saying “It’s not about getting awards or adding to a list of personal accomplishments, it’s about who you do it for.” He went on to thank Rotary for providing the opportunity to serve, and noted that it was “as much for our kids here as it is for the youth in the Dominican Republic and that it’s great to see our teens inspired to serve and give back.”
Early on, the annual Dominican Republic trips were focused on building homes and latrines in Batay 106. Haiti shares the island with the Dominican Republic and is an incredibly poor country. Many Haitians go to the Dominican Republic to work in sugar cane fields. A Batay means “Haitian community.” Batays average around 800 people and anywhere from 50 to 200 homes.
In 2019, the group shifted their focus more to education, with the idea to sponsor three kids to go to school. In the Dominican Republic, schooling is provided by the government but the kids need supplies, backpacks, books, and a uniform. For junior high and high school age students, they also need transportation. The approximate cost per year is $60 for elementary students and $325 for junior high or high school.
The group quickly found that it was impossible to pick only three kids, and by the end of the trip, the conversation had shifted to how they could raise funds to support education for all 125 students.
When the pandemic hit, the kids stopped going to school, however by not going to school, they also lost access to food. The Interact funds were diverted to supporting food needs for kids in the Batay. In June, Tubman was a guest speaker, along with representatives in the Dominican Republic, to provide an update on the project and the well-being of those in the Batay. Current efforts are underway to help support virtual education through providing laptops, wifi access, and on-site educators.
Rotary District 6360 covers 15 counties in Southwest Michigan. The Golden Trowel is awarded annually to up to four non-Rotarian individuals or groups who have made a major contribution to a Rotary project. Gary Campbell represented the District Foundation to present the award at Monday’s meeting this week.
