About Seaside Rotary
Founded on April 24, 2012, the Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside was conceived as a means of encouraging fellowship and facilitating meaningful and productive service within Playa del Carmen’s English-speaking community. Chartered by Rotary International in September 6, 2012, Rotary Seaside now has 25 members, each dedicated to upholding the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self”.
Seaside Rotary Mission
Seaside Rotary’s core mission is to help improve the daily lives and prospects of the children and families within the club’s service community, and the surrounding areas. The club’s activities are focused on fundraising and volunteer support for well-established, local charitable organizations that have a proven, direct, measurable and positive impact on the children and families within our area of service.
The club strives to provide assistance to community-based, non-profit, volunteer, public service, or charitable organizations with programs that benefit children and youth through family support, education, improvement of infrastructure, and access to health benefits within the communities of Solidaridad.
Where Can You Find Seaside Rotary?
The Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside conducts weekly meetings in English and welcomes both men and women. The membership convenes for lunch meetings every Tuesday, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM at La Vagabunda Restaurant in Playa del Carmen. Visiting Rotarians and those curious about Seaside Rotary and what we do are welcome to join us. For more information, contact us here.
Seaside Rotary Grants
Since 2012, Seaside Rotary has contributed grant monies and charitable gifts to support many local organizations and service groups including The KKiS Project, KODOMO Center for Autism, DIF, Good Intentions, El Hongo Community Center, A Pasión Arte Teatro, Casa Yoliguani, Leyendo, Centro Atención Integral PDC, Friends of Puerto Aventuras, Transformar Educando A.C., Ajal Comunidad A.C. and Contando con un Amigo A.C.
Learn More HereThe Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside and its members do much more than raise funds. The club manages several ongoing programs that benefit the community. These projects offer members and our volunteers the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get first-hand experience working with our community ambassadors and the people who need help the most; the children and families in Playa del Carmen.
Feeding the Future
Seaside Rotary maintains a feeding program in a marginalized community on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen. In a small community school, we provide two meals (breakfast and lunch) for 70 children, 3 days a week. Rotarians shop for the food weekly which is then prepared and served by volunteers at the school and parents of the children. This is one of our most important programs as the meals we provided are, in some cases, the only meals these children will receive.
Learn More HereClean Water Project
Clean water is one of Rotary International’s 7 Areas of Focus and Seaside Rotary is committed to the cause. We have installed clean water filtration systems in several schools outside of Playa del Carmen where was little or no access to safe drinking water. In areas with no access to electricity, we have installed solar-powered systems so that children and families can have an uninterrupted supply of fresh, clean water.
Learn More HereKicks4Kids
Since 2015, the Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside has run an ongoing sneaker collection and distribution program called Kicks4Kids. The mission is to help prevent injuries and infection by providing proper footwear for at-risk children, especially those living in areas without ready access to health care. Club members collect sneakers from visiting Rotarians and helpful tourists visiting the area. The shoes are then sized, sorted and distributed by club members to the children in local schools. Monetary donations are appreciated and used to buy sneakers in local shops, supporting the local economy.
Learn More Here‘The Big 6’
In 2014, with the support of several Rotary clubs in the United States and in coordination with Project C.U.R.E., the Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside delivered of over 500,000 USD worth of essential medical equipment and supplies for the newly built Red Cross Hospital.
The success of this project encouraged club members to “Dream Big” and in 2017, Seaside Rotary embarked on ‘The Big 6‘. Our most ambitious project to date “The Big 6” would bring over 3 MILLION USD worth of medical equipment to six hospitals in southern Mexico, with our Rotary District 4195. Once again partnering with Project C.U.R.E., our international Rotary partners, and with a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation, we have already been able to deliver over 1.5 MILLION USD worth of equipment to hospitals in Quintana Roo, Campeche and Veracruz. We are looking forward to completing the final three deliveries soon.
Learn More HereSeaside Rotary Community Volunteers
In addition to our own projects, Seaside Rotarians are actively working together with local government and NGOs whenever help is needed. The membership is always looking for service projects and an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and work in the community.
Seaside Rotary members have worked together with Leyendo, repainting and repurposing an unused schoolroom to create a cheerful library stocked with books for children in a local public school.
The club has also worked together with the local Municipal government to administer Hepatitis testing, spruce up local parks and recreation spaces and participated in “Beach Clean-Up” days. We have also helped DIF to collect Christmas gifts for needy children and distribute food baskets and essentials to at-risk families during the coronavirus crisis.
