Service Projects

CASA-Rotary Literacy Project 

In 2021, because of excess cash received from donors that had not been spent from the Christmas Giving Trees program, Rotary Chair Diane Buckshnis, CASA Division Manager Joelle Kelly and Program Supervisor Lindsay Cortes came up with two pilot projects: 1) providing $100 gift cards for new children or teens entering the system, and 2) creating a CASA library of diverse books geared at helping the child acclimate into the foster system. The books would be utilized by the volunteers and then the book would be left with the child or teen. After testing both projects at a $2,500 limit, it was determined that the literacy project was the most meaningful as Rotary and CASA also gained a valuable partnership with Edmonds Book Store. Additionally, the book would remain at the foster home.

Sharing books and literature has always been a part of the CASA volunteers’ method of helping the foster child acclimate to the foster home, but up until now the supply of books was limited which meant that the volunteer could not leave the books behind. When the list of books was obtained, Diane Buckshnis approached former Edmonds Bookshop owners Mary Kay Sneeringer and David Brewster about arranging for them to manage the book list and purchase. Both Sneeringer and Brewster were excited about the project and its mission and were able to contribute by providing a 20 percent discount on all the books purchased for CASA. Approximately 200 books were purchased and those 70+ CASA volunteers now have books to leave behind after their visits. A new list is being created to purchase books in 2022.

In honor of Black History Month, the Edmonds Rotary and the Edmonds Bookshop once again joined hands with the Snohomish County CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) program to provide 175 Black history-themed books for direct distribution to at-risk youths served by CASA.  Thank you to Michelle Bear, Edmonds Bookshop owner for your support.

Bridge to Success – The Gambia Project

Four members of Rotary Club of Edmonds traveled to The Gambia in February 2019 and conducted a needs assessment in nine Senior Secondary Schools. From that, the Bridge to Success project was born, which will bring science education to provincial students in The Gambia. In rural Gambia, science education enrollment is significantly low and not offered in many high schools. The primary reason for this unfortunate setback is the lack of Science Labs, though it is a requirement for high schools to offer Biology, Chemistry and Physics classes. With the absence of pure science subjects in these schools, it is likely that rural high school students are also not introduced to advance mathematics such as calculus and statistics which denies them the opportunity to pursue higher education in science and technology. MRC Holland Foundation, Edmonds Rotary Club and Brusubi Rotary Club are bridging this gap by building a standard science lab at Kaur Senior Secondary School (with a new construction three classroom block) and refurbish and convert three existing classrooms in Niani Senior Secondary school into a functional science lab.

History

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