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Rotary Club: San Diego Project Title: Community Restoration Project 1. Describe the project. What was done, when and where did project activities take place? Over the past 8 years, the City Heights Rotaract Club has worked side-by-side with the community of City Heights to restore businesses, and local parks, improve the tree canopy, and provide families with access to literacy by installing little free libraries across the neighborhood. This year, City Heights Rotaract wanted to complete a restoration project that would make a long-term impact on the entire area. With the guidance and support of our local leaders, our board decided to support a local community church, known as the Mid-City Church of The Nazarene. This church has been a staple for the community for over 80 years currently serving four multi-lingual congregations: French-Creole, Cambodian, English, and, Swahili. The church provides shelter and food services to the diverse working-class community of almost 150,000. The church has three food distributions a week, serving anywhere from 100 to 350 people per distribution. At times, the numbers have swelled to over 1,000. City Heights Rotaract has helped the church with food distribution in previous years, including cleaning an old food pantry and kitchen. This year’s project was based on the needs shared by the pastors. They needed supplies for their newly refurbished kitchen that is now a grocery store (the old kitchen we cleaned) admin office, and social hub. These three spaces are all connected through doors and are used interchangeably every day for food distributions, community meetings, and appointments with social services. Our club decided we could help deep clean, build, and furnish the spaces before the grand opening on April 1st. 2. How many people benefited from this project? 10,000 per year 3. Who were the beneficiaries, how were they impacted by this project, and what humanitarian need was met? This grocery store, a social hub is now a space where community members can enter and receive services with dignity. Currently, there is a 2-hour line for people to pick up their food, however, with the new store, people will be able to hand-pick the items they feel are needed. While people are waiting to pick up their groceries, they are now able to sit inside the admin office, in a safe environment inside instead of outside in the cold and rain. Additionally, social services can have a quiet and welcoming space to help families who need support beyond food insecurity. There is a space to inspire creativity through colorful furniture and space where they can illustrate their feelings and needs. The goal is to continue to support the space by having additional service events where we add more furniture, paint the walls, add art, or even host community meetings. The beneficiaries are all the families who not only attend the church but also the folks who stop by the food distribution that is open to the public. Each distribution each week helps 300 individuals. Over 10,000 individuals will be benefiting from this project each year. Without the support, the grocery store and social hub would be an empty place with little to no furniture. 4. How many Rotarians participated in the project? 13 City Heights Rotaract members and 2 prospective members attended and participated in the project from ordering the furniture to shopping for materials and building. 5. What did they do? Please give at least two examples, not including financial support provided to the project. Each person was part of assembling a different piece of furniture, including a bookcase, portable whiteboard, chairs, tables, cabinets, and wall storage. We also deep-cleaned the entire kitchen and grocery store surfaces, restocked, and organized non-perishable items. There were at least 4 members in each room, working together to build and design the spaces. 6. If a cooperating organization was involved, what was its role? No additional organization other than our Club sponsors and advisors. 7. Income
8. Expenditures
District must retain receipts of all expenditures for at least five years. Please scan and upload to the project's "Documents" tab all invoices (be sure they are marked "paid"), receipts and/or copies of checks for the full amount of the project budget. By signing this report, I confirm that to the best of my knowledge these District Grant funds were spent only for eligible items in accordance with Trustee-approved guidelines, and that all of the information contained herein is true and accurate. I also understand that all photographs submitted in connection with this report will become the property of RI and will not be returned. I warrant that I own all rights in the photographs, including copyright, and herby grant RI and TRF a royalty free irrevocable license to use the photographs now or at any time in the future, throughout the world in any manner it so chooses and in any medium now known or later developed. This includes the right to modify the photograph(s) as necessary in RI's sole discretion. This also includes, without limitation, use on or in the web site, magazines, brochures, pamphlets, exhibitions and any other promotional materials of RI and TRF.
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