MetroBethesda Rotary is excited to be partnering with activist entrepreneur Seth Goldman and celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn, the founders of the organic, fair trade tea line Just Ice Tea. Together, the partners are leading a global fundraising initiative to raise $130,000 for a vital project in Cha de Magoma, Gurue, Mozambique. MetroBethesda Rotary is the International Partner with the host club, Rotary Club of Beira, to assist the needs of a community predominantly filled with Tea Garden workers and their families. Our goal is to assist in a larger initiative to renovate an existing clinic and provide a pathology clinic. The grant seeks to raise funds to equip the newly renovated pathology clinic with the necessary pathology tools and provide education to new personnel to diagnose and treat critical illnesses such as malaria, anemia, typhoid, AIDS, and heart disease.

Currently, the Cha de Magoma community lacks access to modern healthcare facilities, which has led to poor health conditions and an average life expectancy of just 54.6 years. By supplying the proper equipment and training the staff, we aim to dramatically improve the health and longevity of the 10,000 villagers in and around this area. This project holds the potential to significantly enhance the quality of life for the people of Cha de Magoma, and we believe it can create lasting change.

Learn more about the project from Seth Goldman and Spike Mendelsohn

Recently, a dynamic fundraiser at Philippe Chow in Washington, D.C. raised over $25,000. We are close to raising all of the necessary funds to complete the project during the winter of 2026.

We invite you to join us in this transformative effort to make a meaningful impact on global health. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Tiffany Nesfield and/or Archana Uppal at tiffany@nesfieldperformance.com or archana@uppalonline.com.

The metroBethesda Interact Club, made up of high school students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Walt Whitman, Jackson Reed, St. Andrew’s and Rochambeau high schools, is mentored by metroBethesda Rotary Club member Meg McKinney. Between 20 and 30 student members meet monthly to do service projects. The students are particularly focused on service projects related to food security and the environment.

The Interact students had a busy 2024-2025 year. In September 2024, the students helped rebuild the food pantry at B-CC High School using a grant from metroBethesda Rotary Foundation. Although B-CC is located in the center of Maryland’s affluent Montgomery County, 29% of the students there qualify for free or reduced price meals (FARMS), which means that nearly 700 students are food insecure. (To qualify for FARMS, a family of 4 has an income between $41,795 and $57,870.) The Interact students spent one Saturday removing the old shelves, assembling new shelving units, and, after thoroughly cleaning the pantry, installing the new shelving. Then the Interact students restocked and organized the shelves so the pantry was ready for the new school year. Now, the pantry is open three days per week during school hours and serves between 150 and 200 students per week who shop for food, toiletries, and clothing for their families. Many of these students are the primary cooks in their family and care for younger siblings while parents are at work. metroBethesda Interact did several other projects bringing food to B-CC families in need, including creating Thanksgiving and Valentine grocery bags for two separate events at one of B-CC’s feeder schools.

Building on their interest in food insecurity, the students contacted three local transitional houses for domestic violence survivors and unhoused people, and arranged to cook meals for the residents of the homes. On two occasions, the students cooked a full meal for the 8 residents of each house and one month they cooked four meals for the 8 residents in one house where the oven was broken. The students worked together to prepare the meals, which included a main dish, two sides and dessert, and deliver them to the facilities. The students also prepare food for Martha’s Table in Washington, DC some months, enjoying making dozens of sandwiches and bags of trail mix. Another project was making healthy snacks for BCC Cares, a PTSA initiative that strives to provide support to BCC students and families in need. The Interactors’ food preparation projects are usually followed with s’mores around a fire pit.

Interactors occasionally have other types of programs—for example, the students were enthusiastic about a stream clean up along Sligo Creek, and they staffed the table at MetroMoveFest. Also last year, Professor Elton Skendaj from Georgetown University (who is mBR’s president-elect in 2025-2026) led a program about how to have difficult conversations.

For the 2025-2026 school year, Meg and the Interactors are planning two stream clean-ups in partnership with metroBethesda Rotary Club, Thanksgiving grocery bags delivery and other food delivery projects for B-CC families, cooking for the transitional housing facilities, a clothing drive, and sandwiches for Martha’s Table.

Want to learn more? Follow mRB’s Interact Club on Instagram @interact.mbethesda

Metro Bethesda Rotary has recently been the catalyst for a major humanitarian assistance project in Ukraine. Club members have spearheaded the purchase and delivery of more than $1 million of medical supplies and equipment to the front lines of the war and wherever else it’s needed. We’ve been partnering with United Help Ukraine, a nonprofit run by local Ukrainian ex-pats who themselves have raised $40 million this year, along with the Lviv International Rotary Club, who are our eyes and ears on the ground in Ukraine. MBR Club leaders Barton Goldenberg and Daniel Fischer are leading the effort, on behalf of District 7620, to execute the project utilizing a special Rotary International fund dedicated to Ukraine aid. Importantly, they have made it turnkey for club members to participate in funding the purchase of supplies, packing boxes of materials, and cheering on the drive.

Barton and Daniel have each dedicated more than 400 hours to the project, working around the clock with international time differences, but feeling amazingly gratified at what’s been accomplished. “This is the epitome and power of Rotary,” said Barton, a former Rotary District Governor who has been instrumental in procuring international support. Added Daniel, “It’s been gratifying bringing together Rotarians from around the world, all unified to help Ukraine in its time of need. Our skilled team, including partners from Lviv International Club, UHU and District 6970 in Florida, have made this challenging initiative possible.”

Our club’s participation has transpired in several stages. Not surprisingly for a project this size, it has involved detailed requests for multiple Rotary Disaster Response grants, funds for which are donated to Rotary International by Rotarians, Clubs, and Districts.

• Initially, in May/June 2022, our Club jump-started the project by collecting $25K in donations. We combined that with a Rotary Disaster Response grant for a total of $57K. With this funding, life-saving aid such as tourniquets, medicated gauze bandages, and other items for individual combat-like first aid were purchased and packed by Rotarians, shipped by UHU to Warsaw, and delivered to Lviv Rotarians.
• For the second round in August/September, we brought together seven US Rotary Districts and received a $175K Disaster Response grant. With Rotary International allowing grantees to purchase outside the US, we included both ‘tactical’ items like those purchased earlier and sustainable hospital equipment. In high demand were portable wound closure machines costing over $3K each. We supplied ten of these machines to a hospital near the warfront.
• In October, a $375K Rotary Disaster Response grant allowed us to expand the breadth and amount of goods purchased. About a third of the budget focused on sustainable equipment including portable x-ray equipment ($30K each), an anesthesia machine ($26K) and 15 wound closure machines. The majority of funds continue to go towards helping those wounded at the warfront survive long enough to receive full medical attention.
• Most recently, working with 20 Rotary Districts from Florida to Finland, from Los Angeles to Norway, and from Iceland to India, the project was awarded $500K in funding. These 20 Districts represent over 40,000 Rotarians around the world. Beyond sending over additional medical supplies and equipment, our upcoming deliverables will include sub zero winter gear and water filtration systems providing potable water in areas where the water table has been polluted by petroleum and other heavy elements.

Our ongoing experience demonstrates what Rotary is all about: actively living “service above self” with expanding national and international collaboration.

We’d like to offer our gratitude to the many Rotarians who have supplied the project with funding, time, and know-how. It has made a significant difference to those in Ukraine who are the victims of unspeakable violence. We plan to continue the project as long as it is needed.

The project is still actively accepting donations. Click on the green Donate Now button at the top of the page. Thank you for your support!