Stories

The Rotary Club of Bellingham (RCOB) named the Whatcom Center for Early Learning (WCEL) as their recipient for their 2022-2023 major project grant funding. The Major Project Committee selected the WCEL due to the alignment of WCEL’s goals with RCOB’s goals - helping youth and families in the Whatcom County community.

WCEL’s grant proposal identified capital improvements needed at their Big Blue House location on H Street – making the building more accessible for those using strollers or wheelchairs by building a ramp, reimagining the playground and making it more inclusive with a special focus on what children with disabilities need. The WCEL is also working on a sensory path to provide opportunities for sensory engagement. These upgrades will ensure their facility is more accessible in order to better fulfill their mission and meet growing community needs.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham raised $84,216.91 for this upcoming work.

Our major project funds went to the Community Boating Center in 2021-2022 for the construction of a new building on the CBC campus. The new building will be named the Rotary Wheelhouse in recognition of our support of this project. The building will include a classroom, deck overlooking the bay, storage, showers and handicapped-accessible bathroom.

While the building itself is a worthy project, what makes this something RCOB can enthusiastically support is the CBC’s impact on our community. The Boating Center amenities are available to anyone without any membership fee. It has programs for children as young as 5 to learn about marine life and water safety, they have a middle school sailing team, and there are a number of programs for people of a variety of ages and abilities. They make it a point to reach out to communities that might rarely or never have the experience of being on the water, such as participants at the Max Higbee Center (the recipient of our Major Project award in 2020-2021).

Many people and organizations have enthusiastically supporting this project. The Port has altered CBC’s lot line to make room for the building, they are also installing a new small watercraft dock, the sewer line is being extended at a greatly-reduced cost, and this is a fantastic opportunity for our Club to reinforce connections with community stakeholders. The addition of this new building is so vital to the CBC's growth…and vital to the importance of water recreation in our community. A project like this harkens back to why we took up a project like Boulevard Park many years ago – access to waterfront and the water is good for the soul of this community.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Foundation has provided over $90,000 in scholarships to local, deserving students this school year.

The Foundation allotted $74,000 to provide for scholarships through the local Whatcom Dollars for Scholars program as well as named scholarships to be awarded based on agreements with donors. The Foundation provides Whatcom Dollars for Scholars criteria for these scholarships. The Mischaikow Scholarship of $2000 was also awarded to an excellent student with one or both parents born in a foreign country of excellence. The six Phil Millard Memorial Athletic Scholarships of $4000 each were also awarded to local students excelling at both athletics and academics.

In addition, The Foundation provided 14 scholarships through Bellingham Technical College, Western Washington University, and Whatcom Community College.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham teamed with Children of the Nations for a meal-packing event to benefit students in Sierra Leone. The Club’s original goal was to pack 30,000 meals in 3 hours and to raise $9,000 to fund this initiative. They exceeded that goal by raising $9,759.06 and packing 37,152 meals in less than 3 hours on April 22, 2023 in the Assumption Catholic School Gymnasium in Bellingham, Washington.

106 volunteers including Rotarians from the:

• Rotary Club of Bellingham
• Bellingham Bay Rotary
• Bellingham Sunrise Club
• Passport Club
• and the Bellingham Rotaract Club plus volunteers from the community came together to accomplish this feat

Why Sierra Leone? It is a lush tropical country on the west coast of Africa that boasts beautiful beaches, picturesque mountains, and some of the richest natural resources and mineral deposits (including diamonds) in the world, but it is also one of the poorest countries in the world. It consistently ranks as one of the least developed countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. It also has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world (children dying before reaching age five).