Rotarians Going To Bastrop To Fight World Hunger
Members of 18 different Rotary Clubs in Central Texas will be going to Bastrop on Saturday, June 5, to help fight world hunger. In Fayette County, there are Rotary Clubs in both La Grange and Flatonia.
“The Bastrop County Rotary Club will be hosting this effort to pack 10,000 meals for overseas distribution in a single morning,” said Larry Jackson of La Grange, lieutenant governor for Rotary District 5870. “It’s a hands-on way we can make a difference.”
The project is in conjunction with Rise Against Hunger, an international organization that brings volunteers together to package millions of nutritious meals annually that are then distributed to partners in countries around the world.
According to Norman Jones, president of the Bastrop County club, Community Gardens, at 1067 Highway 71 West, is providing the space for the event.
Rotary volunteers from Bastrop and six neighboring counties will mix soy, rice, dried vegetables and spices into carefully weighed packets, then box them to be shipped by Rise Against Hunger to wherever there is need.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at Community Gardens. Other volunteers are welcome to come help.
According to Rick Stacy of Marble Falls, governor of District 5870, this is one of three areawide projects the 58 Rotary clubs in Central Texas have done this spring. The others were in Corsicana and Round Rock. Besides hands-on projects, clubs in the district last year raised over $878,000 for The Rotary Foundation.
Rotary is a global network of 2.1 million members who “unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves,” its website says.
“Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues,” Jackson said. “Hunger is certainly one of those issues, and this is a way each of us can do something about it.”
Locally, Rotary is known for providing high school scholarships, sponsoring youth exchange programs and promoting community improvement projects.