Smyrna Rotary And Mercy Ships

2/2016 - Smyrna Rotary Club recently completed three separate fundraising projects for Cavalry Children’s Home, Food for Veterans in Cobb and Mercy Ships. The first two are somewhat self-explanatory. Even then, it’s worth noting that Smyrna Rotarians contributed nearly $6,000 to Cavalry Children’s Home, located in Powder Springs. And the Food for Veterans project resulted in roughly 50 bags stuffed with an average of $10 per bag of non-perishable foods and $300 in cash. “But what is Mercy Ships?” you might wonder. We asked Pauline Rick, Mercy Ships’ U. S. Public Relations Coordinator. She replied:

“Mercy Ships owns and operates the Africa Mercy, the world's largest private hospital ship. This floating hospital has five state-of-the-art operating rooms and is staffed by 400 surgeons, nurses, doctors, physical therapists, cooks, accountants, agriculturalists and others. They come from 40 nations to donate their time and skills to treat, free of charge, an astonishing number of health problems for people in need all along the coast of Africa.”

“Thanks to donations from corporate partners and our selfless medical volunteers, every dollar you give triples in impact,” exclaims Rick. “That's because your gifts are matched by gift in kind corporate donations and donated volunteer hours.”

Smyrna Rotary’s was involved with Mercy Ship before. It’s no surprise that then as now, the man behind the project is long-time Smyrna Rotarian Raymond G. Coffman, Manager of Pastoral Care at WellStar Cobb Hospital in Austell. He has also led Smyrna Rotary on wheelchair projects, a project to provide crutches to needy children and more. All have been great projects, but Mercy Ships was the one to revisit at this time.

Says Coffman, “This was the Holiday 2015 International Project for the Smyrna Rotary Club. Our club decided set a goal of raising $1,000 for the Africa Mercy now stationed in Madagascar. Though more checks are still coming, to date we have raised $1,075.” The amount raised by the club several years ago was similar.

Smyrna Rotary is not the only Rotary Club to support Mercy Ships. Mark Wright, the Program Support Manager of Mercy Ships’ International Programs Group tells us “For decades, Mercy Ships has benefitted from the generous support of individual Rotarians, Rotary clubs, Rotary International, The Rotary Foundation, and Rotary International of the British Isles. Together, we have impacted countless lives for good in developing nations around the world.”

“Over 50% of our world’s population lives within 100 miles of the coast,” adds Coffman. “So the work of Mercy Ship is far reaching. It provides free medical treatment to people with no other means of receiving much needed medical care. The average income in Madagascar is less than $2.00 a day. All 400 staff are volunteers so all funds raise go directly to treated patients. Many surgeries are performed such as Orthopedic, Women’s Health, Maxillofacial and all general surgeries. With these facts in hand, Smyrna Rotary not only met our goal but also raised more to carry the vision of Rotary to make the world a better place for all humankind.

Erin Ashley Cruttenden a volunteer from Lawrenceville, Georgia, says she is "thankful for the opportunity to join with volunteers from around the world with a common passion for loving and serving God and others. The experience was one of my greatest challenges as well as one of my greatest joys."

Pauline Rick adds, “Thank you so much for making Mercy Ships the feature of your 2015 International Project. That is an amazing gift to us, which will help us further our work in Madagascar. We are very grateful for your club's support!”

Smyrna Rotary is always looking for female and male community leaders. For more information about the club or membership, please email f12@nfiweb.com.