Dec. 27 — Rotary donates funds to African project

Roxanne Cooke / of the Herald

Sumner Rotary has donated $10,000 to support an Ethiopian water well project.

The gift is the largest Sumner Rotary has ever given for an international cause.

Sumner Rotary is working with other Rotary clubs in Washington and Ethiopia to raise the money. The goal is $2 million, which will build more than 100 wells.

The wells created by the project will give Ethiopians clean, pure water in place of the contaminated water they retrieve from nearby rivers and streams, said Lee Hansen, chair of the club’s international committee.

“We’re trying to emphasize clean water in the world,” Hansen said. “It’s for the health aspect.”

Rotary International and the Conrad Hilton Foundation will provide matching funds to the project on an 8-to-1 ratio. The $10,000 becomes $80,000, for example.

Sumner Rotary’s donation comes from the sale of poinsettias, the summer pie booth, the fall fun run and the July golf tournament.

Rotary’s original goal was to eliminate polio from the world, and its main purpose is worldwide health, Hansen said. That has mostly been accomplished, with few cases left, and now the focus is clean water across the globe. Hansen became involved in Rotary 34 years ago after learning more about the organization while traveling abroad. It’s a rewarding endeavor, he said. He’s now 71 years old.

“Part of the goals of Rotary is to provide services internationally, locally and just to help benefit the welfare of cities in the world,” Hansen said. “And we’ve been doing that.”