Foundation Minute

This story, reported by the Rotary Club of Folsom, California, of a successful global grant is a wonderful example of ensuring the sustainability of a project objective. Folsom Rotarians partnered with two Rotary clubs in Brazil on a $33,750 project funded through The Rotary Foundation to help the hard of hearing in Brazil. The Rotary Clubs of Candia Mota and Assis Norte, Brazil distributed 164 hearing aids to adults in their communities. Their Rotary club members personally traveled, sometimes great distances, to give hearing tests to over 200 people identified by a local municipality health clinic as needing hearing aids but not being able to afford them. They then had to choose 82 people who would each receive two hearing aids.

Included in the hearing-aid kits they received were a solar battery charger and four batteries making the hearing aids affordable to maintain. For most hearing aid users, replaceable batteries cost over one dollar a week, which is too expensive for the economically disadvantaged. These solar batteries should last the users at least two years. Also in the kit are storage containers and ear pieces individually molded to the users' ears. Although the Candia Mota club has completed many Matching Grants in the past, they have found this project done with funds seeded from the Rotary Club of Folsom to impact beneficiaries the most.

Please keep the image of thankful recipients of such life-changing assistance in mind as you consider your ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation.