A small Rotary club in Oregon, Wisconsin reached across the globe and placed essential tools into the hands of children where many had never owned a backpack before.
Supporting 460 students in rural Cambodia
Turning one Rotarian’s family roots into a bridge of opportunity acrossthe globe.
Demonstrating that small clubs don’t need big numbers to makea big difference.
Service Above Self isn’t about size. It’s about stepping up when it matters most.
When people think about global impact, they often picture large clubs, large budgets, and large-scale campaigns. But Rotary has never been about size. It has always been about heart.
Backpacks of Hope, a Rotary Club of Oregon humanitarian project, December 2025, is proof of that.
This project began with something deeply personal for me. I was preparing to return to Cambodia, the country where my mother grew up and where I was born. Our trip was to celebrate an ancestor ceremony. While there, we wanted to visit a rural school where poverty is widespread. Many of the children travel from surrounding villages where no schools exist. For over 100 of them, this year would be their very first opportunity to attend school.
They were eager to learn.
But they had very little.
When the Rotary Club of Oregon learned about the need, the response was immediate: We want to help. What followed was an extraordinary outpouring of generosity from Rotarians and the surrounding community.
And generosity multiplies.
What began as a modest effort to supply notebooks and pencils to a few hundred students grew to reach 460 children. Here’s what that kindness made possible:
460 backpacks filled with school supplies, uniforms, shoes, and food
Briefcases and clothing for 8 faculty members
60 soccer balls and 10 air pumps
A library stocked with age-appropriate learning tools and storybooks
Then, just one week before departure, another need surfaced. Many of the children are being raised by grandparents. Could the project extend support to the elderly as well?
Once again, the answer was yes.
Through the Elderly Project, more than 50 seniors received clothing and spending money. It was a gesture of dignity and care for those quietly carrying the weight of their families.
Every item was purchased in Cambodia, strengthening the local economy and creating a ripple effect beyond the school grounds.
A small Rotary club in Oregon, Wisconsin reached across the globe and placed essential tools into the hands of children where many had never owned a backpack before. When you remove even one barrier to education, you change more than a school year, you change possibility.
This is what “Service Above Self” looks like.
What started as a mother-and-daughter goal to provide basic school items quickly became something much bigger.
Backpacks of Hope is more than a humanitarian effort. It is Rotarians rallying around one of their own. It is honoring a family legacy while investing in the future of 460 students. It is proof that when a cause is personal, commitment runs deeper and impact grows wider.
One backpack may seem small.
Four hundred and sixty backpacks look like transformation.
Rotary’s strength has never been in its size. It has always been in its willingness to care and then to act.
Backpacks of Hope is exactly that in motion.
We are incredibly grateful.