Alpharetta Rotary Club Donates Funds To Improve Neonatal Care

ALPHARETTA, GA -- The Rotary Club of Alpharetta is partnering with Rotary District 6900 and the Quevedo Rotary Club in Ecuador to put together a grant for $62,250 to improve neo-natal healthcare in a South American city.

This global grant specifically addresses the Rotary’s area of focus in saving mothers and children.

The funds will help provide neonatal equipment to the Pedro Martinelli Navas maternity hospital in Quevedo. Alpharetta Rotary is donating $13,500, and Rotary District 6900 in Georgia is matching the donation with $13,500.

The Ecuador Rotary Club and its District is donating $4,500, and the Rotary Foundation is contributing $30,750. These donations will make it possible to provide essential medical equipment to the hospital.

The equipment — including incubators, neonatal fans, fetal monitors, infusion pumps, neonatal CPAPs and phototherapy lamps — will be lifesaving additions to the maternity hospital. Additionally, several Rotarians have expressed interest in making a trip to Ecuador as part of the project implementation.

Rotary global grants support large international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in Rotary’s areas of focus. The goal of this international project is to reduce neonatal mortality levels in low-resource populations by helping to avoid complications like hypoxia and asphyxia.

The hope is that in Quevedo, where there are more than 70,000 inhabitants in the San Camilo parish alone, children and newborns needing this equipment will receive the care necessary to saving their lives. By providing medical equipment to doctors in Ecuador, "the Rotary Club hopes to make a large difference in the number of new born children who can survive these serious conditions that can lead to permanent brain damage or death," the organization stated.

“Alpharetta Rotary is excited to participate in this Global Grant opportunity in Quevedo, Ecuador," Alpharetta Rotary Club President Jason Binder said. "We are proud to do our part to in furthering Rotary’s area of focus of Child and Maternal Health. My wife and I are expecting a child in December. Personally, it means a great deal to me to help another community make that wonderful life event a joyous and healthy experience.”

Image via Rotary Club of Alpharetta