norman
country-financial
March 28, 2024 12:03 pm
Your hometown Newspaper since 1987.
Search
Close this search box.

NE Clark County Area Rotary Clubs Bring Buddy Bench To Mexicali

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Mesquite Rotarians l to r Dale Rust, Misti Buchhalter and Keith Buchhalter present a new ‘buddy bench’ to a school for the deaf in Mexicali Mexico. Funds for the bench came from all three Rotary Club organizations in northeastern Clark County.

The three Rotary Club organizations operating in northeastern Clark County teamed up on a collaborative effort last month that helped bring a brighter day to kids and families in far away Mexico.

Funds donated by the three organizations; including Rotary Club of Mesquite, the Mesquite Sunrise Rotary and the Moapa Valley Rotary Club; went towards manufacturing, transporting and installing a new ‘buddy bench’ to a school for the deaf in Mexicali, Mexico.

The concept of the ‘buddy bench’ is not new to northeast Clark County Rotarians. In fact, last year the three area clubs collaborated in placing buddy benches at all area elementary schools including the two in Moapa Valley, two in Virgin Valley and one at Beaver Dam, Arizona.

“The buddy bench is just a safe place on the playground for kids to come to and sit down,” explained Rotary District 5300 Assistant Governor Keith Buchhalter of Mesquite. “It’s a place for kids that might be living on the sidelines, who might be seeking friendship or might want to talk about problems.”

Built to last, the concrete buddy benches are custom made in the Mesquite workshop of Robyn Shaefemeyer. Each one weighs 700 lbs and costs around $800 to make.
Buchhalter said that the ‘buddy bench’ effort has been effective at building unity of purpose between the three area Rotary Clubs. In fact, it has worked so well that Rotarians sought another opportunity to collaborate, this time outside of their own region.

They found that opportunity in a Mexicali school more than 400 miles away. The school has been the subject of Rotary projects in years past. Buchhalter said that the clubs were attracted to this particular school because of its strong community involvement.

“It is a school for deaf kids, but it really encourages a lot of engagement and invovement between parents and students,” Buchhalter said. “It brings the family in to work with the kid. They work together as a unit. So it is not just the school working with another deaf kid, but more of the community that is behind the student.”

With the bench funded and built, last month it was ready to deliver. And it was a whirlwind trip.

At about 4:00 am on Friday, Sept. 20, Buchhalter, along with his wife Misti and another Rotary of Mesquite member, Dale Rust, set off for Mexico. They travelled in Rust’s pickup truck with the heavy bench loaded in the back.

The trio arrived in Mexicali at around 12:30 pm that day and had the bench installed by about 3:00 pm. The next morning, a special presentation was held for the school kids and their families.

Kids at the school expressed excitement to the Rotarians to have this new feature on the playground. “I was amazed during the presentation at just how much the kids already knew about the buddy bench concept and what this thing was for,” Buchhalter said. “It was exciting to see their enthusiasm.”

Buchhalter said that the meaning of this particular bench was expanded beyond just a safe place on the playground. “We kind of merged the buddy bench message into a broader message of peace, harmony and collaboration between nations,” he said.

After the presentation, there was still time for the three Rotarians to do some more service. They spent the lunch hour in a community meal hall serving a meal to about 75 kids and their families who suffered from extreme poverty.

Finally, the local team joined together with a large group of other Rotarians from the U.S. who had brought a load of donated items of clothing and other necessaries to distribute to the poor of the city.

Buchhalter said that he was struck by the courtesy and generosity of the needy children.
“It was amazing to see these children who had so little being so respectful of others and making sure that everybody there got something,” Buchhalter said. “These people, that really had the least, are the ones willing to give the most.”

By 2:00 pm, the local Roatrians were back on the road and headed home. They arrived in Mesquite at around 10:00 pm.

Buchhalter said that it was a wonderful, uplifting experience.
“The people we encountered were so grateful,” he said. “They kept asking us why we would travel all that way just to help them. We just kept responding that love and service knows no boundaries.”

Print This Article:

Share This Article:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Screen Shot 2023-02-05 at 10.55.46 PM
2-21-2024-fullpagefair
4 Youth Service WEB
2-28-2024 WEB Hole Foods St Patricks
No data was found
2023 WEB BANNER 2 DEFAULT AD whitneyswater
Mesquite Works Web Ad 10-2020
Scroll to Top
Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Get notified about new articles