WESTFIELD — During a regular club meeting on October 8, Rotary Club of Westfield members hosted a speaker from the Peace Corps. Charlene Barrow is the regional recruiter for volunteers. She spent 2015 to 2017 with the Peace Corps in Ecuador teaching English.
Volunteers to the Peace Corps commit to a three-month training program followed by 24 months working in a country. The Peace Corps tries to give a choice of places. Ms. Barrow had a choice between Mongolia and Ecuador, and preferring a warmer climate, she chose the latter.
While most of the volunteers are recent college graduates, they also often include recently-retired professionals who are looking to offer their skill sets. There currently are 3,300 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 61 countries.
The Peace Corps was started by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as an opportunity for volunteers to help developing countries. The areas they cover are Agriculture; Education; Youth and Development; Health; and Business.Applicants must have a fouryear college degree, or be out of high school for five years, and be a United States citizen.
The Peace Corps pays for all travel expenses, medical and dental insurance, and provides housing plus a monthly stipend to cover food and expenses. The Peace Corps is a program of the Federal Government.
After serving a full term, the graduates have preference when applying for a job with the Federal Government. They also are offered tuition for graduate school and receive a $22,000 readjustment allowance at the end of their 27-month service.
The Peace Corps also is piloting shorter-term programs in order to increase its ranks. At its peak, the Peace Corps had approximately 10,000 volunteers serving around the world, and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, had approximately 7,000 individuals serving.
Major projects for the Rotary Club of Westfield include helping homeless veterans, collecting used bicycles and sewing machines to send to developing nations, helping to feed the local food insecure, sponsoring youth clubs in the local schools, and eradicating polio worldwide.
Westfield Rotary donated $35,000 in community grants and $150,000 in scholarships this year. Since 1967, Westfield Rotary has awarded $3.5 million in college scholarships to 1,800 students.
Rotarians are successful business people who want to give back to the community. There are 1.2 million Rotarians in 35,000 Rotary clubs in 220 countries throughout the world.
The Rotary Club of Westfield meets the first three Tuesdays of each month for lunch at noon, at Limáni Seafood Grill, located at 235 NorthAvenueWest, Westfield. Guests are always welcome. For information, check out the website www.westfieldrotary.com or contact Club Secretary Dr. D. Michael Hart by email at drmhart@yahoo.com.
