Rotary Raffle raises over $12,000
From White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club Foundation:
By Tamara Kaufman
White Salmon, Wash., May 26, 2026 — The winner of a Costa Rican adventure was drawn in a nonprofit raffle as the White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club Foundation awarded a five-night stay at the Vista Ballena Hotel in Costa Rica, plus $1,500 toward airfare and transportation to Brian Heimbigner of Vancouver.
“What a great outcome,” said club President Chuck Henschel. “We sold over 500 tickets, raising over $12,000 to help the community center project in Kenya become a reality. We are so grateful to everyone who participated and donated to the cause.”
The club has been engaged in service work in Kenya since 2020. Building a community center with its Najijali Project partners, the Harambee Centre in the U.S., and Grace Resources for Community Action (GRECA) in Kenya, will support the program's sustainability and make vital resources available to the small rural community of Sikusi. Beneficiaries will include the young mothers who participate in the vocational education programs with wraparound services, including counseling, domestic science, and business training, to help them become financially independent.
Local community members will also benefit, as plans for the community center include making potable water available for a nominal fee, creating space for local groups to hold training and meetings, and providing cell phone and computer charging stations for a population that largely lives in small villages with minimal, intermittent, or nonexistent power sources.
“Our Rotary Club and Foundation do a lot of local work here in the Columbia River Gorge,” Henschel said. “International projects are another avenue of service to do good in the world. What’s notable about this effort is that our friend Suzanne Hart of Hood River heard about our work in Africa and wanted to help. She owns the Vista Ballena Hotel and donated the five-night stay, and we paired it with $1,500 for the winner to arrange their transportation.”
“I was very surprised to learn that I won,” Heimbigner said. He is a member of the Three Creeks Vancouver Rotary Club and learned about the raffle during a Rotary District 5100 International Service Committee meeting. His family has ties to the Columbia River Gorge, and he wanted to support the White Salmon-Bingen club’s fundraising efforts, so he reached out to buy tickets.
He was headed out to Hood River and The Dalles for the day, and the win gave him and his wife an excuse to cross the river to collect the prize and visit one of their favorite places. They met with Henschel and member Diana Robinson at the White Salmon Bakery for lunch and a handoff. He thanked the club members and expressed his gratitude to Hart, who donated the prize.
The Kenyan community center fundraising continues as the group prepares to break ground soon. The first project will be to clear the small lot of land and connect it to the local water source, allowing construction to begin. Building a perimeter security wall will be next, followed by the sanitary systems and foundations. Then, cargo containers will be placed and converted into working spaces, and the final step will be to install a solar power source for the facility.
“We will continue supporting our partners to make this a reality,” Henschel said. “We are committed to helping the community in Kenya complete this project, which will help them become more self- sustainable.”
White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club meetings are free and open to community members on the first four Tuesdays of each month from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the Mt. View Grange #98, 1085 N. Main Avenue, White Salmon, WA 98672. Guests can bring their own lunch or, for $20, enjoy catering featuring a variety of delicious foods from Beneventi’s Pizza. Meetings include guest speakers on a wide range of topics. On fifth Tuesdays, the club arranges evening get-togethers at various locations.
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