Our impact starts with our members – people who work tirelessly with their clubs to solve some of our communities’ toughest challenges. Our efforts are supported by Rotary International, our member association, and The Rotary Foundation, which turns generous donations into grants that fund the work of our members and partners around the world. Our shared passion for service helps us to accomplish the following:

• Scholarships for students from SPASH, Pacelli, MSTC and UWSP
• International Youth Exchange
• A pre-school in Esteli, Nicaragua
• Literacy in Turkey
• Grants for local youth and non-profit organizations
• Local efforts to support Rotary International’s Post-polio Syndrome Messaging Project

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The purpose of the Sister City Project, begun in 1983, is to nurture mutual understanding and peace through personal relationships between the people of Stevens Point, Wisconsin and Rostov Veliky, Yaroslav region, Russia. This communication includes a sharing of our language and culture through exchanges in education, environment, tourism, and the arts.

In recent years, the Russian Sister City Project has focused on an exchange of information and ideas on the natural environment in our two cities and regions. Stevens Point hosted three groups from Rostov Veliky in 2008, 2010 and 2012, all funded by Open World grants from the US Library of Congress. Delegates engaged in lively conversations with local counterparts on ground water, solid waste, alternative energies, and citizen initiatives to preserve the environment.

Eleven citizens from Stevens Point traveled to Rostov Veliky in the summer of 2012 to help celebrate the city’s 1,150^th anniversary. Every other June we send two teachers and their student assistants to Rostov Veliky to teach conversational English to children, ages 10 to 18.

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Some of our history and activities include:

• Conducting and hosting ongoing family-to-family visits in Gulcz and the Stevens Point area to share cultures
• Provided clothing and school supplies to Gulcz in the early days of the sister city relationship
• Provided the funding for Gulcz’s first computers to use in the classroom; the Gulcz school has been renamed the Polish American School because of these activities
• Promoting face-to-face teacher and classroom exchange visits via Skype with Almond-Bancroft  and Gulcz grade schools
• Developed and hosted a weekend 150^th Anniversary Celebration of Michael Koziczkowski, the first Polish settler to Portage County in 1857, followed by thousands of other families
• Hosting the annual Dozynki Harvest Festival; the group has awarded over $50,000 in scholarships to area junior and senior high school students
• Hosting community expert lectures on:
• Identification of safe mushrooms to enjoy;
• Personal experiences of living and surviving in a World War II concentration camp and resettlement in Stevens Point;
• A firsthand account of Saint Pope John Paul II’s visit to Stevens Point.

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This structure provides grassroots opportunities through people-to-people activities at the local level that promote cultural awareness, sustainable community development, and form ties of friendship between the people of Stevens Point, WI and Estelí, Nicaragua. The concept of partnership empowers citizens from both countries to identify and affect change.

We bring people together, help them become aware, and identify ways to put their ideas into action. Collective efforts have:

• Significantly improved emergency medical services in Estelí with the addition of a functioning ambulance that once provided service in Stevens Point,
• Enhanced early childhood education and vocational skill building courses in Estelí through Stevens Point Rotary support, and
• Made possible youth sports programs, personal development initiatives, and ongoing youth exchanges between the two communities.

These organizations are at the core of the project, however there have been many contributions from local businesses and institutions. Including:

-Ellis Stone
-UWSP
-Stevens Point Parks and Rec

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