Neighborhood Appliance Replacement Program
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary Club established the neighborhood Appliance Replacement Program in 2017 to support families in need. This ongoing program serves local families in Bellevue and Renton that cannot afford to replace a broken stove, dishwasher, refrigerator or other essential appliance. Working with local civic and non-profit organizations, Bellevue Sunrise Rotary Community Service Chair Rod Kirkwood identifies and screens candidate families.
After a candidate is selected, Bellevue Sunrise Rotary disburses donated funds to its business partner, King & Bunnys Appliances of Renton, to purchase the appliance. Then, King & Bunnys donates the manpower to remove the non-functioning appliance, followed by the installation of the brand new one. If you or somebody you know wants to learn more about qualifying for this program, you can reach us through our Contact Us page on this website.
King and Bunnys Appliances of Renton, Washington has been a Sponsoring Partner since 2017
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary is grateful to the following sponsors of our appliance replacement program.
The Klorfine Foundation
Rotary District 5030 Grant
As of summer 2024, 310 appliances have been replaced to date, at an average cost of about $600 each (representing $186,000 in donated funds from our generous donors), all going to families in need across neighborhoods in Renton and Bellevue. These vital appliances have helped families in dire situations, from a widow who lost her husband and was unable to keep up with getting things fixed in her home, to a single mother of three who could not afford to fix the family stove, which effectively confined family cooking to an outdoor barbecue.
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary worked with the Washington State University (WSU) Foundation to establish a Rotary Scholarship at the WSU College of Medicine to help reduce the shortage of physicians in vast underserved areas of the state. The “Service Above Self” mission reflects not only the mission of the Rotary Districts across the world it also reflects the mission and vision the WSU College of Medicine has for the State of Washington.
To request a speaker on the WSU College of Medicine Contact Us.
Double Your Donation
For a limited time, every dollar you give to medical student scholarships will go twice as far with the Medicine Multiplied match.
Afro-Caribbean Technology Exchange, or ACTE, has been promoting STEM education for underserved girls in Africa and the Caribbean since 2007. The organization was started by Bellevue Sunrise Rotarian and Bellevue School District STEM teacher James Burke, a former Peace Corps volunteer, as a way of promoting the Peace Corps third goal, “helping promote a better understanding of peoples of other nations on the part of Americans.”
The organization owes its impactful existence to the Bellevue Sunrise Rotary and its unwavering financial support spanning nearly two decades. In that time, we have directly impacted over 2500 students in Jamaica with computers and STEM curriculum, specialized training for nearly 50 Jamaican teachers including professional development in Bellevue, and 63 Bellevue students from Burke’s STEM program acting as STEM ambassadors in Jamaica during summer development trips.
In 2017 ACTE and Burke’s Girls STEM Club partnered with a team in Sierra Leone and opened a STEM training facility for girls in the impoverished country. Since that time, ACTE has worked alongside the SL school director and teachers to provide cutting edge education for the local community and connect them to others around the world looking to support underserved communities. With over 100 girls introduced to technology along with local teachers given the proper tools and training to teach, this partnership has been extremely successful and rewarding to everyone involved.
ACTE looks forward to continuing its long running relationship with Bellevue Sunrise Rotary. Together we can continue to forge lasting relationships to communities in need outside of America’s borders. Peace.
Consider a donation for the Hurricane Melissa disaster recovery.
Grants Awarded to Sponsored Community Projects August 2024 – July 2025
Click BLUE Project Titles for More Information
Coal Creek Family YMCA
The Coal Creek Family YMCA (CCFY) was established in 2009 to serve the diverse and rapidly growing communities on Seattle’s Eastside. Our state-of-the-art facilities were designed to help individuals and families learn, get healthy and gain access to all of the natural splendor this area offers. A grant from the Bellevue Sunrise Rotary will help support the CCFY to provide 200 meals weekly to individuals experiencing hunger. Through this program, the YMCA partners with Communities in Schools, a non-profit organization working within local public schools to identify students who need extra support. Containing nutritious, child-friendly, and easy-to-prepare food, each backpack provides a child with two days’ worth of food. Funding is needed to expand the program from its current level of 200 weekly meals to 250 meals for the 2024-2025 school year.
Youth Eastside
Services
YES is a lifeline for kids and families coping with challenges such as emotional distress, substance abuse and violence. Through intervention, outreach and prevention, YES builds confidence and personal responsibility, strengthens family relationships, and advocates for a safer community in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, and Sammamish.
KidVantage
KidVantage, formerly “Eastside Baby Corner” helps children have what they need to grow, play, learn and thrive. Essential care, safety, and health goods are provided to children who are experiencing the stresses of economic insecurity, systemic inequities, or family disruption. Kids, ages birth through 12, get shoes, diapers, formula, blankets, coats, and much more from KidVantage and our service partners. KidVantage also provides for expectant and postpartum mothers.
University District Rotary Kenya Maasai Water Project
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary supports a collaborative effort involving the University District Rotary Club with other Rotary clubs and partner organizations to provide clean water access to the Maasai community in Kenya. The project is focused on installing a water borehole to address water scarcity, which has a major impact on health, education, and women’s and girls’ livelihoods in the area.
Goal: To install a borehole and provide a clean, safe water source for the Maasai community.
Scope: The project aims to improve the lives of Maasai women and girls who often walk long distances to fetch water, which impacts their education and safety.
Impact: By providing a local water source, the project seeks to:
Improve community health by reducing waterborne illnesses.
Allow girls to stay in school instead of spending hours collecting water.
Reduce the physical burden on women and girls.
Support the growth of vegetables and provide water for livestock.
Partners: Other District 5030 Rotary clubs, such as the Rotary Club of Lynnwood, Alderwood Terrace, Lake Forest Park, West Seattle, Kent, Emerald City, and Federal Way, as well as local partners like the Nairobi South Club and HEART, in addition to two Kenyan Rotary clubs: Kilindini and Nanyuki.
Hope for Korah School Reading Room Project
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary supports the University District Rotary Club’s partnership in the “Hope for Korah – School Reading Room Project," a literacy initiative in Ethiopia thataims to create reading spaces and provide books for children in the Korah community. The project was launched as a collaboration with the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa Westand Rotary Club of Seattle 4, with an initial fund of $6,000. The initiative is focused onbasic education and literacy and is a major part of the University District Rotary Club’s work in Ethiopia.
Goal: To establish reading rooms and provide books to children in the Korah community to improve literacy and open opportunities for a brighter future.
Mission: To break the cycle of extreme poverty by providing holistic care and transformational development in Korah, Ethiopia.
Location: The organization works in the urban slum of Korah, located on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, which is known for its severe poverty.
Holistic approach: Their work addresses physical, spiritual, psycho-social, and educational needs to foster sustainable change.
Launch: September 2025, coinciding with Rotary’s Basic Education and Literacy Month.
Construction Industry
Training Council
CITC is a state-licensed, nationally accredited, construction training program for beginning and advanced construction professionals. CITC’s training programs currently serve more than 1,700 apprenticeship and classroom training students and 8,000 continuing education students. 150 students take part in our supervisory skills assessments and performance verifications. Grants to provide toolboxes are much appreciated by the outstanding graduates.
Harvest Against Hunger
The number of people visiting food banks has remained high because most pandemic assistance programs have ended, and inflation is rising – especially for food and fuel. This grant helps reduce food insecurity among those in our community who seek assistance from hunger relief organizations.
Additional funding provided by the Klorfine Foundation.
The Lighthouse for the Blind
The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit social enterprise providing employment, support, and training opportunities for people who are blind, DeafBlind, and blind with other disabilities. The Lighthouse has provided employment and support to people who are blind in our community since 1918. Our philosophy maintains that each employee be provided with whatever supports are necessary for success in the workplace. Our Mission Statement: “We empower people who are blind, DeafBlind, and blind with other disabilities by creating diverse, sustainable, and meaningful employment opportunities.”
People’s Memorial Association
Everyone deserves respect in life and death. People’s Memorial Association seeks to reduce challenges during the difficult time when a loved one dies. We help nurture members who advocate for and educate themselves around memorial and end-of-life planning. Since our inception in 1939, we have been the thought-leader for funeral choice, education, and advocacy in Washington State. There are currently more than 71,000 members living in Washington State, and we have served 200,000+ families during the 85 years of our existence.
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary
National Disaster Response
When Hurricane Helene struck the East Coast in late September of 2024, the storied community of Asheville, North Carolina was hit particularly hard. Wide swaths of the town were literally wiped out, leaving too many people dead and thousands without proper shelter, food, medicine or clothing. At a regular morning meeting shortly after Helene passed through, our club made a unanimous decision to donate money to the Asheville community via the local Asheville Rotary, so that funds could be distributed quickly and efficiently to those most in need. Due to the continuing increase of overwhelming natural disasters in the United States, our club has decided to make National Disaster Response an ongoing funded project.
Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Environmental Project – Bello Horizonte Beach Cleanup
Located in Santa Marta, Colombia, with a view of the Caribbean Sea, where dozens of people led by Green Team come together to leave a lasting impact in support of environmental conservation. This is a pilot plan that hopefully will be documented and replicated in other parts of Colombia and around the world. Bellevue Sunrise Rotary is supporting the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club on this international project.
Objective: Support, promote, and guide beach monitoring leaders through education and awareness, so that they take responsibility for overseeing, informing, and acting—turning beaches into exemplary spaces for environmental care and cultural and physical transformation through cleanliness.
Renton Schools Foundation
The Renton Schools Foundation Mission is to increase and enhance educational opportunities for all Renton School District students by providing financial support through the fostering of community partnerships. The Foundation helps bridge the gap between inadequate state and federal funding and the cost of high-quality learning opportunities for every child, every day in every classroom. The Foundation funds programs that enrich the lives of 15,000+ Renton School District students.
Hands for Peacemaking Foundation
The focus at Hands for Peacemaking is to offer opportunities for economic development, improved health conditions and access to education in order to promote self-sufficiency for the Guatemalan people in the regions we serve. Most of the villages we encounter are probably 150 years behind, and some places don’t even have water. We provide reliable, safe stoves for cooking, assist in obtaining potable water and open up pathways for indigenous people to improve their economic status.
Sea Scout Ship 2: Argo
Sea Scouts are part of Scouting and can be found in many countries around the world. If you ask any Sea Scout, old or new, what ship are they from, their eyes brighten as they firmly tell you, “We are Argonauts, always will be, and so will the hundreds of Argonauts that surround us from a proud 65 years of active scouting and camaraderie with shipmates. We are proud to be from the Argo, Scout Ship 451, it’s a deeply rooted maritime tradition!”
Seattle Children’s Jim Olson Lab
The research completed by Dr. Jim Olson and his team has led to a 20% increase in survival for children with high-risk Group 3 medulloblastoma; more than a dozen clinical trials in cancer patients; more than 50 patient-derived models of pediatric brain tumors; and three biotech companies (Presage Biosciences, Blaze Bioscience, and Link Immunotherapeutics). The Olson Lab’s current work focuses on discovering novel therapeutics for pediatric cancers and, more broadly, on discovering protein/peptide therapeutics for a wide range of pediatric diseases. In a major development, the lab discovered Tumor Paint, a scorpion-derived mini-protein that delivers a fluorescent signal to brain tumors in order to guide surgeons as they operate. The clinical development product, Tozuleristide, has been advanced by Blaze Bioscience through five clinical trials and will soon be considered for approval by the FDA.
KBCS 91.3 FM On Campus Radio Station, Bellevue College
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary supports KBCS 91.3 FM, a public radio providing Puget Sound with essential music and news. The roots of KBCS took hold in the early ‘70s. A group of Bellevue College students set out to become broadcasters. After their initial request was declined, they held a President’s office sit-in to protest. In February of ’73, KBCS went live with a tiny 10 watt transmitter and equipment donated by KING-FM.
Gradually, KBCS evolved from a student radio club into a professionally managed public media organization. In March of 2013 the station’s antenna was moved from the Bellevue College campus to the top of Cougar Mountain, greatly strengthening the station’s reach to the south and east.
Over 100 volunteer hosts, producers, and journalists deliver much of the music and news heard on the station. Many have gone on to staff public radio stations throughout the region, and report for National Public Radio.
St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Madeleine Sophie Catholic Parish
Bellevue Sunrise Rotary supports St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Madeleine Sophie Catholic Parish. As the principal person-to-person, charitable hands and heart of the parish, the volunteers of St. Vincent de Paul reach out and respond to those in our area who are in greatest financial need. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a worldwide movement of parish volunteer groups. Members respond to all who need help and are living within the boundaries of the parish, without regard to race or religious denomination.
More people each year need help, and there has been a 16% increase in the number of visits made in recent years. Representatives always travel in pairs to make home visits and go year round.
From left to right: David Bobanick, Executive Director, Harvest Against Hunger, Colleen Turner Director of Development, Harvest Against Hunger, and Steve Dewalt, President.
Seeding the Future for the Harvest Against Hunger
David Bobanick (left) and Colleen Turner (center) from Harvest Against Hunger (HAH) are shown with Bellevue Sunrise Rotary President Steve Dewalt just before a presentation of the HAH story at the club’s weekly meeting in February 2024. Bellevue Sunrise Rotary, in partnership with the Klorfine Foundation, presented a check for $12,500 to help support the hunger relief efforts provided by HAH. With this contribution, Bellevue Sunrise continues its long-term commitment to support hunger relief in our region. As an early Rotary program, HAH represents an effort over four decades to meet the food challenge needs of our community.