Past International and Local Projects
At one time, the Rotary Club of Youngstown maintained twelve subscriptions (known as Fourth Object subscriptions) to Revista Rotaria (Spanish edition of Rotarian Magazine) which were sent to Central and South American countries monthly. After World War II, two CARE packages were sent monthly via the International Service Committee; one to a family in France, and the other to a family in Austria. Through this program Youngstown Rotarians also sent badly needed clothing to a city in Denmark after a flood, and to Berlin, Germany, where 1,000 refugees per day were escaping from behind the Iron Curtain.
Also through I.S.C., our Club helped a community in the Philippines to start a library, and collected and sent hundreds of books. Youngstown Rotarians sponsored a displaced family was brought to this country from Germany. Through local and international Rotary efforts; a son was able to attend medical school in United States. The father, a doctor, was formerly a president of his Rotary Club in Lithuania. He was able to start a practice in this country.
During the 1989-1990 Rotary year, Youngstown Rotarians, Shri Raxit Shah and Jerry Haber, initiated a World Community Service link between District 6650 clubs in Ohio and a Rotary club in the impoverished Indian province of Gujarat, the one-time home of Shah’s grandparents. In 1993, approximately $30,000 was collected from the donations of Youngstown Rotarians and interested individuals from District 6650’s other clubs. In part, this sum was made possible through a $15,000 Matching Grant from the Rotary Foundation.
With this sum of money available, the P.T. Mirani Eye Hospital was created in the State of Gujarat, whose principal objective was to provide site-saving cataract surgeries to the impoverished citizens residing therein. This initial sum of money was used to purchase equipment and erect a suitable facility. Additional contributions exceeding $60,000 were enlisted to bring new, technologically-superior equipment on line and to keep the facility operating efficiently. Today, the P.T. Mirani Eye Hospital continues to bring sight-saving surgeries and medical treatment to thousands – young and old – in Godhra, Gujarat. Said one prominent member of the Rotary Club of Godhra, “the names of Rotarians from Youngstown will dance on our tongues for the remainder of our lives!”