Rotary projects around the globe – June 2026
Learn how Rotary clubs are taking action in the United States, Mexico, England, Hungary, and India.
by Brad Webber
01 Jul 2026Loading component...
The party starts early in Healdsburg, California. The Bay Area city’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities begin with a raucous, early morning procession that originated in the 1990s as a prank to rattle tourists out of bed. Since 2010, the Rotary Club of Healdsburg has gone green — with hair dye and wigs — to use the parade as a PolioPlus fundraiser. In March, two dozen Rotarians joined the crowd of about 2,000 partygoers at 7 a.m. to frolic around the town plaza, raising an expected $50,000, says club member Tim Mann. “The parade is more than just a spectacle; it’s an annual platform for our ongoing fight against polio,” Mann says. March 17, adds club member Devin Lee Drew, is “the one day of the year where we get up at dawn for our club meeting.”
In February, the Rotary Club of Chapala Sunrise in the state of Jalisco hosted a five-day Friendship Conference with members of international partner clubs from Richmond, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Lincoln, California, as well as clubs from the Mexican cities of Guadalajara, Zapopan, and Chapala. Attendees toured projects they had supported, including a wastewater treatment facility, a plant that uses gravity to move water to wetland flower beds, and a health clinic planned to serve an Indigenous community in Jalisco. Delegation members also delivered presentations on projects of their home clubs. “Rotary connections we’re making together are going to continue for years,” says Nicci Beninger, club president and organizer of the gathering.
Rotary Club of Elthorne-Hillingdon member Sarah Gardner founded Serving Our Superheroes in 2020 during the pandemic to support caregivers, including staff of the National Health Service. The name “was inspired by the everyday heroes we serve,” Gardner writes in the Rotary regional magazine serving Great Britain and Ireland. “What began with sewing laundry bags for NHS staff quickly grew into a registered charity” that distributes donated wash kits, toiletries, clothing, products for newborns, and other items. Rotarians and other volunteers deliver the items to hospitals, nursing homes, and care centers. More recently Gardner formed Helping West London, a network of charities and organizations that share surplus supplies. “I like to say that I join the dots,” she says. “Rotary reflects that same spirit of connection.”
Since 2007, the Rotary Club of Miskolc has organized an annual food distribution project during the Advent season. In 2025, the event attracted about 250 people to the town square, where Rotarians passed out bean goulash and jam-filled buns. The signature effort of the club “supports people in need by offering warm, freshly prepared meals at a time of the year when assistance is most appreciated,” says club member Márk Dobai. “Over 18 years, the program has provided roughly 5,000 meals, becoming a meaningful local tradition that brings comfort, dignity, and human connection.”
Nearly two dozen members of the Rotaract Club of Coimbatore Gaalaxy spent Valentine’s Day transforming a school. Guided by school staff, Rotaractors from the Tamil Nadu-based club “engaged in painting, restoring, and designing murals that brought color and life to the campus,” says Club President Srivarshan R.R. “The school caters to a diverse and often vulnerable group of students,” including orphaned youth, the children of prisoners, and families in poverty, Srivarshan says. The club also assists the institution by paying school fees for select children, providing handwashing stations, and offering career guidance for graduating students.
This story originally appeared in the June 2026 issue of Rotary magazine.