Rotary Members Respond to Honduran Hurricane Relief Call
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Rotary Club of Catonsville (RCC) member Wendy Hernandez, a native Honduran, has been leading an effort to provide disaster relief to Honduras following Hurricane Eta. Organizing family and friends, she gathered and shipped clothing, linens, shoes, and non-perishable food donated by Christ the King church with over $1,700 in donated funds. The RCC International Service Committee chaired by Brent Tolbert-Smith continues to explore partnership opportunities with Rotary-affiliated groups to see where RCC's gathered hurricane relief funds can best be directed. 
Coordinating deliveries with a contact in her native home town, Hernandez heads the Catonsville-based effort working through a shipper in northern Virginia to get the gathered supplies safely to their destination. Driven by her passion, Hernandez addressed the many needs still in that area during the RCC November 17 program meeting, and club members started donating to the Hurricane Relief cause.  At that point, Hernandez had already collected $1,600 and sent seven boxes of clothing and food to Hondruas. With the help of her Rotary Club mentor, Denise Valancius-Ditman, Hernandez has gathered additional funding and as of January 13 has shipped eight boxes to Honduras. RCC's International Service committee members Pat Kasuda and Denise Valancius-Ditman have joined Tolbert-Smith and Hernandez in seeking additional partners for this project including the Rotary Club of Copan Ruinas, Disaster AID USA, and Disaster AID Canada.