Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise Celebrates 15 Years of Service

The Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise was chartered on May 29, 2007, in Belize City and celebrates fifteen years of service this year. With 30 founding members at the time of its charter 15 years ago, the Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise, today, has a diverse and active membership of 47.

From renovating schools and libraries to donating computers and medical equipment and supplies, the Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise is dedicated to building community and improving lives through projects that grow the local economy, support education, promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and expands access to quality healthcare for mothers and their children.  

Our club’s flagship projects include the Port Loyola Library and St. John’s Vianney Roman Catholic School, both located in the south of Belize City. 

We have raised more than BZ$215K to secure and strengthen a well-developed public library service within the Port Loyola community, installing a fence around the library, partnering with the Belize Natural Energy Trust to construct an upper floor, in addition to donating computers, photocopiers, fans and reading material – all in an effort to help conquer illiteracy as well as to provide a safe and family-friendly space for residents to engage. 

“On November 22nd, 2018, while visiting the St. John’s Vianney school grounds in preparation for a tree and garden planting the following day, heavy rains had settled in different parts of the schoolyard and had flooded sections with stagnant water settling directly next to classrooms.   Our focus had to change, and the project went from gardening and tree planting to an effort to move and spread soil and landfill material in the areas of the schoolyard that were affected by the flooding.  Members of the clubs along with volunteers dug drains and secured a connection to the city’s drainage system so that excess waters could run off the yard and drain out”, recalled PP Hugo, member for 15 years.

“Getting rid of the stagnant water meant that the kids could have room to play and run, and not have to worry about getting sick from mosquito-borne diseases.”

Since then, the club’s support to St. John’s Vianney has extended to equipping their computer lab with new computers and software, repairing and renovating the restrooms in addition to the roof, as well as re-painting the school. 

In 2019 Puma Energy partnered with our club to develop a Scholarship program that would award children the opportunity to go from the Southside elementary schools into high school. Children are selected from within the Southside communities and are allowed to attend the school of their choice, additional funding is given for special allocations depending on the special needs that may arise for each child.

“Rotary has a long-standing legacy of deep commitment to collaborating with community and investing our time and talents into projects that have a real and lasting impact on people’s lives”, said Iselma Sosa-Martinez, President of the Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise.  “We are exceedingly grateful to all the volunteers, sponsors, donors, and partners who have invested their time and resources alongside our own for the past 15 years.”

The Rotary Club of Belize Sunrise is one of more than 9 Rotary clubs locally and 46,000 Rotary clubs worldwide. Its members consist of active, civic-minded individuals who are passionate about making a difference in Belize and the world.