Rotary Club of Las Vegas West Charitable Foundation

Las Vegas West Rotary's mission is to help break the cycle of inequity and poverty for the most vulnerable students in our valley by developing leaders who can succeed in spite of the many challenges they face in their lives.

In our own back yard, there are children and families who are hungry, who don't have permanent housing, and who struggle daily to make financial ends meet. These same children have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis resulting from a city-wide shut down for months. 

Las Vegas West supports the students, teachers and administrators at three schools in some of the most challenging neighborhoods in our city. We provide essential needs — food, clothes, books, school supplies — but more importantly, we support their leadership development by sending them to youth leadership camps while they are in middle and high school that literally transform them from quiet, nervous interviewees who can't look you in the eye to confident, enthusiastic leaders who go back to their schools and run for office or become presidents of their own service clubs. 

In order to send our students to these weekend-long leadership camps for free, as well as other programs that promote our students' talents in music, speech and writing, we rely on multiple fundraisers throughout the year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our plan and could potentially affect our ability to provide these experiences for our students for years to come. 

Las Vegas West Rotary has started this GoFundMe to subsidize this year's fundraisers to continue to provide these students with life-changing experiences. We are humbly setting the goal at $10,000 to fund leadership camps, scholarship competitions and essential items for their everyday school life. 

Our club has sent nearly 500 hand-picked students to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and Teen Leadership Camp — and many have come back to their schools, homes and communities with new ideas and the courage to implement them.

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"Rotary has generously sponsored our 8th grade and high school students' attendance to TLC and RYLA (respectively) for several years now. I have seen the benefits that these programs have brought to countless students at our school. Even the students who are not selected to attend learn the valuable skills of completing an application and going through a job-like interview process. Those who are then selected and sponsored to attend are able to learn invaluable leadership skills. Students are able to meet other diverse teens from different school districts, participate in group leadership and collaboration activities, learn from well-known guest motivational speakers, and so much more. When my students return from these expeditions, they truly have gained skills they would not have otherwise learned so quickly-- skills that are transferrable in the classroom, within their homes, and within future jobs and careers. They are thankful for their experiences and always want to return the following year.  I would love to see our students continue to have this amazing opportunity year after year." - Kayla Coleman, teacher at West Prep Academy

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$10,000 is a big ask, so in full transparency here is what your money would go toward:

- Rotary Youth Leadership Awards - $3,000 to send 10 high school students
- Teen Leadership Camp - $3,000 to send 10 8th graders
- Dan Stover Music Awards - $700
- 4 Way Speech Contest - $300
- Ethics Essay Contest - $200
- Food/supplies at West Preparatory Academy (K-12) - $1,000
- Food/supplies at Jydstrup Elementary School - $750
- Food/supplies at Rex Bell Elementary School - $750
- West Prep Interact Club (Rotary service club in high school) - $300

Every cent you donate goes directly to our kids - we are an all-volunteer organization and we don't take out any administrative fees from our fundraising.

Make no mistake, Las Vegas West Rotary is dedicated to providing these services and experiences to our students regardless of how much money is raised. However, the success of this fundraiser directly affects how many students' lives we can change. You can learn more about us at www.lasvegaswestrotary.org. 

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for helping Las Vegas's students transform into our city's future leaders. With the state of the world today, they need these experiences and support more than ever.

More about Las Vegas West Rotary Club and Charitable Foundation: The Rotary Club of Las Vegas West was chartered in 1994. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life in our local community by assisting youth in three at-risk schools and to lend our support to the global community by contributing to the humanitarian efforts of Rotary International.

Rotary is a volunteer organization of 1.2 million business and professional leaders united worldwide to provide humanitarian service and help build goodwill and peace. About 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas conduct projects to address today’s challenges – including illiteracy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water, and environmental concerns – while encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations.

The Las Vegas West Charitable Foundation is the nonprofit funding mechanism that makes the work of the club possible.