Helping to Make the World a Better Place

As part of a worldwide organization, members of the Rotary Club of Providence take part in several activities to promote international understanding and improve living conditions in developing countries.

ShelterBox USA

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide. Each box supplies a displaced or homeless  family with a tent and essentials to survive following a disaster.

To date, 75,704 ShelterBoxes have been deployed around the world.  ShelterBox was initiated by a Rotarian and has now grown to include Rotarians around the world

In 2010, following the earthquake in Haiti, the Providence Rotary club raised $25,000 for Shelterboxes sent to assist in that disaster that left millions without shelter.

Ambassadorial Scholars

The Rotary Foundation's oldest and best-known program, Ambassadorial Scholars, was founded in 1947. Since then, nearly 38,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under its auspices. Today it is the world's largest privately funded international scholarships program. Through grants totaling approximately $500 million, recipients from about 70 countries travel to other nations for study each year.

The Rotary Club of Providence participates with other clubs in our District in both inbound (hosting foreign students) and outbound (sponsoring local students for study abroad).

Coming this summer is a young woman from Germany who will attend Johnson & Wales University. We will invite her to our homes for family events, introduce her to life in Rhode Island and the United States and in return, we will appreciate her culture.

Group Study Exchange

Each year a team of young adults from another country spends a week in our area learning about our culture and teaching us about theirs. Rotarians host team members in their homes and provide activities for them. Reversing the process, Rotary Clubs from our district sponsor a group of young adults to travel to another country. Rotarians participate in selecting team members. This year we will host Group Study Exchange participants in the spring from Uruguay.

Clean Water Project

The Rotary Clubs of Providence and Woonsocket collaborated on a project to purchase and install water filtration systems for a rural village in the Dominican Republic. In 2010, a group of 8 Rotarians spent a week of adventure and work in the DR. In addition to the water filtration project, these Providence Rotarians distributed dictionaries to children. More info here.

Polio Plus

For over 20 years Rotary has been deeply involved in the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Rotarians have contributed and raised hundreds of millions of dollars and participated in person in vaccination programs in many countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged Rotary's important contribution to the eradication. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation supports the eradication of polio and has challenged us to match every donation.

Medical Supplies to South America

We have donated an ambulance, stocked with medical equipment, to a small town in Peru.