ROTARY CONTRIBUTES TO INTERNATIONAL “TO SEE MY MOM” CHILDREN’S VISION PROJECT
The Board of the Lakewood Rocky River Rotary Club Sunrise has approved a $1,000 donation to an International Service project to reduce the number of cases of blindness in newborns and children living in a large regional center in the Ukraine.
This project was proposed to the Club by a former member of the Lakewood Rocky Rotary Club, Vitaliy Bezrodnov. Pictured below visiting a Rotary Club with a touring group from the Ukraine.
He is the Founder of The Rotary Children’s Fund (RCF), which gives young people Internationally an opportunity to show their talents while touring US raising funds to help needy children in their home countries. Vitaliy’s, who now lives in North Carolina has raised over $100 000 for Rotary Children’s which supports varies projects related to needy children. Vitaliy came to US from St. Petersburg, Russia in 1994 and joined the The Lakewood Rocky Rocky River Rotary Club in 2000. From 2007 in North Carolina, he plans trips for the children and youth, manages the RCF (formerly known as Rotary Childrens Fund that been renamed to Reunite Cultures Fund.
In September 2021, after 2 youth groups visited US from Ukraine, he secured approval of a Rotary International and USAID Hearts of Europe $53,580 Global Grant, for Project titled, To See Mom! The grant provides funds for the purchase of two pieces of ophthalmological equipment for a major Hospital in the Ukraine that provides in and outpatient and in-patient care for children with vision problems. The hospital annually treats around 5,500 children from birth to 17 years of age. Its Staff estimates that 7% of the children in the its region need vision care. This new equipment will enable the Hospital to carry out complex treatments, and significantly reduce the number of incurable cases in the region.
A requirement for Grant approval is the sponsorship of local Rotary Clubs by making contributions totaling $8,572. The Sunrise Rotary Club approved a $1,000 gift from its Foundation, which was established in 2015. Additional funds have been provided by Rotary Clubs in the Ukraine, and Vitali’s home club and his district.
