Welcome to the Rotary E-Club of Sunshine, New York

Imagine Rotary

We are the newest Club in District 7230 chartered on 22 November 2021
Rotarians have a vision: “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

Rotary Day of Service is On

The Day of Service is on 20 May. On this day more than 500 Rotary clubs and 14,000 Rotarians across 5 states and 3 countries, from Connecticut to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New York in the United States, plus the countries of Bermuda and Brazil, will volunteer in their communities for an unprecedented Rotary Day of Service, collecting clothes for homeless, refurbishing parks, and, much, much more..

Our Sunshine Club is one step ahead. We will undertake 2 projects - one in Marlboro New Jersey and another in Sreepur, Bangladesh, District 3282. For the project in Marlboro our Club members and volunteers from the local Eagle Scouts will enhance the nature trail in Antisell – by installing 3 visitor benches and 5 trash bins across the route and planting 10 trees to enhance greenery and shade in the trail.

For the project in Bangladesh, the orphan girls of the Monu Mia and Sultana Girls Orphanage will clear trash from the nearby areas as well as plant trees, bushes and plants at their new Orphanage building that is under construction. For the project, all 30 girls at the Orphanage were provided with yellow T-shirts on behalf of the Rotary E Club of Sunshine New York . These T-shirts are printed with the Rotary Day of Service Logo and the Club name.

Proudly wearing their new t-shirts the girls have already started their project - planting trees, beautifying their surroundings, removing trash, and taking cooking lessons. The project will conclude on the Rotary Day of Service - 20 May.

This is how we "Imagine Rotary" "Changing Lives" and "Creating Hope in the World" for these orphan girls.

See photo Album of Day of Service.

Presidents-Elect Training Seminar brings together leaders from 6 Districts

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The Presidents-Elect Training Seminar or PETS is the annual event that provides valuable training and networking opportunities for Rotary and Rotaract Club leaders alike.

Our Club was represented by President-Elect AG Bina Ahmad who acted as Adviser and guide to the first-time new Club Presidents-Elect from the Promise, Hope, East-West, Westchester.

All those present were enthusiastic participants, eager to learn and connect with fellow members of the Rotary community. They attended a variety of training sessions, including sessions on leadership, project management, membership satisfaction, public image, and The Rotary Foundation. These sessions were led by experienced Rotarians who shared their knowledge and expertise with both the newly minted Club leadership and returning leaders alike.

In addition to the training sessions, all participants also had the chance to network with Rotarians from across the Mid-Northeast region. They met with current and incoming Rotary club presidents, as well as other Rotary leaders and volunteers. These connections will serve them well as they continue their work within their own clubs and communities.

The highlight of the 2-day training was the presence of Rotary International President-Elect R. Gordon R. McInally and his wife Heather as well as Rotary International Director for our Zone, Drew Kessler, and his wife Vicki. The presence of these Rotary leaders encouraged and enthused the 300+ attendees, at the Hanover Marriott in Whippany, NJ.

Overall, the Mid-Northeast PETS was a valuable experience for the upcoming club leaders of District 7230, and a reminder of the importance of training and networking within the Rotary community. By investing in the development of our members, we can continue to make a positive impact in our communities and around the world.

View Photo Album

Let's continue to work together to make the world better : Father Philippe

"Let's continue to work together to make the world a better place," Father Philippe Charles writes in his notes to the Rotary Club of Sunshine, New York. He shared some images and a few video clips of the earlier project, after clothes and food were distributed among a group of destitute people, mostly children, who lack their basic necessities of life in Haiti. This was so that Club members get a feel for what their donation will do.

The clothes were collected and sent by Rotary Club of Sunshine, NY while the food was bought by the money donated by club members. Father Philippe collected the items for despatch to Haiti where the distribution will take place under the supervision of the local Rotary Clubs and the archdiocese.

The Rotary Club of Sunshine NY organized the program in Haiti as a part of its Clothing and Food Drive 2023.

The clothes were collected during February and March and packaged in New York. Some twelve bags of gently used clothes, were collected and donated by club member Shimul Ismail and her16 year old daughter Nora,.Together they carefully sorted, organized and packaged the clothes for sending to Haiti.

Nora and her Mother Shimul were lauded at the club's meeting held in early March, where club president Aziz Ahmad, and Charter President Bina Ahmad specially mentioned Nora's contributions and thanked her. The Club also thanked Father Philippe, who went through a lot of effort to collect the clothes and purchase the food items and have them shipped in 2 barrels to Haiti for distribution among the distressed people.

The Club has already collected more clothes and those will be distributed in the Bronx and Ozone park areas in NY very soon.

Earlier, the Rotary Club of Sunshine conducted another food and clothing distribution program in collaboration with Westchester Rotary Club. Held on February 9 at Poughkeepsie in the outskirts of New York, this program was also a successful one. More than 50 people collected containers of freshly cooked food and several dozens of clothing items were distributed among people mostly from Afghan and Syrian refugee camps. Westchester Club President-Elect Maher Pathan, along with a few volunteers actively completed that distribution drive. Maher herself cooked the food and distributed them among unprivileged people in that locality.

They all liked delicious biryani and nice clothes

Posted by Mahmood Menon

"Someone picked a shirt and wore it standing against a glass-door nearby. He was so happy to see that the shirt fit him so well and its color was really wonderful. I saw

how happy the middle-aged man was!"

Rotarian Maher Pathan was describing her experience of the food, grocery and clothing distribution program jointly organized by Sunshine NY and Westchester NY Rotary Clubs held on February 9 at Poughkeepsie in the outskirts of New York.

More than 50 people collected food boxes. Several dozens of clothes were distributed.

Under privileged people, mostly from the housing for Afghan refugees came and collected the food and clothes.

"They don't get enough food to eat, they don't have warm clothes to wear i

n this winter. So they were happy to get all those", said Maher.

"Initially we brought food for 25 people. But later when a larger number of people gathered, we cooked again. Sister Mazida helped me to cook more food and we distributed them among the needy people", she added.

"Lots of exciting things happened on the day. .We cooked the food ourselves. So that everyone gets to eat some home cooked, warm and healthy meals. All the collected clothes were in fine condition and I made sure they were hygienic enough to wear."

Two elderly women came who have no family. Among them one lost her son in deadly gun violence. There is none to buy food for this woman.
We bought some groceries and dropped them off at their houses in the camp, Maher Pathan said.

The onlookers and the people who stopped by were appreciating this noble endeavor by Rotarians.

"Everyone liked the biryani and said that they wanted to eat again. I promised them that someday soon I will cook more biryani and distribute among them", said Maher Pathan.

Sunshine Club Joins Rotary to assist victims of Turkey & Syria Earthquake

Turkey and Syria were struck by a devastating earthquake on 6 February that has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, and left people across the region without shelter in bitterly cold winter weather.

The Rotary world responded to this catastrophe immediately. RI President Jennifer Jones activated our disaster response efforts, communicated with the affected districts, and encouraged governors in those regions to apply for disaster response grants and share information about their relief efforts so that Rotary can amplify the calls for support.

Rotary's project partner ShelterBox has an emergency response team assessing the needs in the region and how it can respond. That team is communicating with Rotary district leaders. Our service partner Habitat for Humanity International is also working on its response. Many Rotary members are asking how they can help.

Our Sunshine Club has set up a fundraiser that channels donations directly to the Rotary Foundation's Disaster Response Fund. Donating via this fundraiser ensures that the donations are appropriately utilized, and no fees are deducted from your donation. Scan the QR code on the right with your phone or click on the link to donate. Sunshine donation to Rotary Disaster Relief for Turkey & Syria