Rotary International President Olayinka H. Babalola’s 2026-27 theme, "Create Lasting Impact", challenges Rotarians to shift away from short-term, transactional charity and move toward deep, sustainable transformation.
Babalola’s framework rests on two interconnected ideas:
- Sustainable Community Solutions: Designing projects that tackle root causes, build local institutional capacity, and continue to thrive long after the initial push.
Transformative Belonging & Engagement: Reinvigorating Rotary clubs by building authentic human connections, breaking through insular social bubbles, and demonstrating tangible value to retain and engage members.
President Babalola’s challenge reflects that to grow and remain relevant, clubs cannot just be networking meetings, we must build and strengthen the connective tissue of civil society.
A District 7230 grant set in motion a Larchmont Rotary Club initiative that embodies this theme.
In the Fall of 2025, the Larchmont Rotary Club approached the Community Resource Center (CRC) in Mamaroneck, asking how we could help.
These are really tough times for immigrants and their families in the US. The CRC responded that they really wanted to bring some joy into the lives of the community and suggested a cooking program for Middle School students.
The two organizations went to work. The first step was funding. District 7230 offers matching grants. Larchmont Rotary applied for and received a $1,000 grant.
But $1,000 was only a start, as the program needed stoves, pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, and a slew of other supplies, along with any raw ingredients needed for each class. The CRC and Larchmont Rotary organized a Salsa and Swing party fundraiser which raised $4,000 along with another $1,500 of direct donations to the CRC for the program.
With a financial footing to hold the first cohort of young chefs, and Larchmont Rotary internally having experienced professionals in cooking, hospitality, and pedagogy, an eight-week curriculum was planned. Registrations went out to CRC’s community for an eight week, 2-½ hour per session cooking program. The response completely filled the first cohort with a waiting list, in case the program was able to continue. The pressure was on to deliver.
The classes surpassed the most ambitious expectations.
At the class before Spring break, when the children were told that there would not be any class the following week, there were loud protests, “But this is our favorite time of the week!”
The kids made wide ranging dishes such as Vietnamese spring rolls, mashed potatoes (can you believe that ¾ of the kids had never eaten mashed potatoes before?), chops, tacos, salmon, different types of salads, tapioca, chocolate dipped strawberries, and sweet and savory crepes.
The capstone event for that first cohort was in the final week; the kids made and served dinner for their families (they chose crepes to show off how they could flip the crepe in the sauté pan).
During that dinner, two of the moms came up and told how, during Mothers Day, their sons had told them to relax and their sons made them dinner!
Three generations were cooking together, eating together, learning from each other, talking, joking and bonding.
As that first cohort ended, Jirandy Martinez, the Executive Director of the CRC, proclaimed, “This is a successful program we have to continue. Please proceed to starting the next cohort and hiring a new director. We will find the funds. Don’t worry about the funding.”
The program is now conducting its third cohort. A paid director is running the sessions. Larchmont Rotary members are still volunteering and having a blast with the kids. The program is funded through the next year, and there is already a wait list for the next cohort. And the CRC, in its annual gala, with over 300 attending, announced Larchmont Rotary Club as one of their Community Honorees for its spirit of service and support of opportunities for local children and families, and created the following video. The award was made at October 15th’s Gala event, held at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle.
Watch the video shown at the Gala: https://youtu.be/lqyzp19mPrM?si=kf1DT5Oubr9M-3D1
That’s what Rotary stands for, building and strengthening the connective tissue of civil society.
