Our club partners with local non-profits and other Rotary clubs in local and international projects.
Camp Enterprise:
Sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of District 5950 and 5960, Camp Enterprise is an extensive three-day camp offering high school students from Minnesota the opportunity to participate in leadership activities focusing on the Free Enterprise System. During the camp over 100 students compete for multiple $1,000 scholarships by preparing and presenting business plan scenarios to Rotarians acting as venture capitalists. The student teams are mentored by Rotarians who guide, supervise, and evaluate individual student contributions levels. SMME not only sponsors a student, but also has members that participate in the event each year.
International Grant with Club Hermosa Vista and Orchestra Alaide Foppa
Our club sponsored a grant to purchase instruments donated to the only all-female youth orchestra In Antigua Guatemala. The goal is to draw attention to the situation of girls and young women in Guatemala, promote awareness of these problems and promote solutions with the active participation of all sectors of the society. The orchestra is named Alaíde Foppa in honor of a poet, art critic, academic, advocate for women’s rights, who was abducted and disappeared in Guatemala in 1980. Members from our club traveled to Guatemala to assist the girls in preparation for and attend their concert in Guatemala City. The Guatemalan President was in attendance that evening. We also traveled into the rural areas to meet women of the villages working to better their lives and assisted in cleaning up a village elementary school.
Friends of Ngong Road
The Friends of Ngong Road have been in partnership with SMME supporting youth impacted by HIV/AIDS. Friends of Ngong Road supports students from primary to post-secondary school with the goal to change lives in three pillars Education and Employment, Safety and Well-Being and Supportive Community. Life Skills Program aims to help build skills necessary for employment and the postsecondary laptop lending program gives access to necessary technology. SMME has been interactive with supporting this pillar through our local Rotary partners with the Kikuyu Rotary Club.
Over the three year collaboration, SMME has donated over $50,000 and supported over 200 students in both the laptop lending program and the life skills training in Nairobi, Kenya.
VEAP Student Hunger Collaboration
Since 2014, SMME has partnered with 6 other Rotary clubs to provide food to children in area school back packs of food to take home over the weekend. Every Thursday throughout the school year, members from the clubs pack 160 – 250 bags at VEAP in Bloomington; the bags are then distributed to children at the schools on Fridays.
Youth Exchange
SMME sponsored our first Youth Exchange students in 2015-16. Each year SMME sponsors an outbound student and an inbound student. Outbound students are selected through an interview process and become engaged with the club before spending a school year abroad, in partnership with a host country Rotary club. Inbound students stay with 3 host families, found by SMME, throughout the school year. They attend meetings, service and social events with the club. It’s a rewarding experience for everyone!
