How 18 Rotarians, a leap of faith, and District 5340’s rare match turned determination into global impact. A story shared by Marissa de Luna, Charter President of the Rotary Club of Sweetwater San Diego.
On the night our club turned five, I arrived early and counted the chairs without meaning to. One, two, three—until I reached eighteen and paused. Eighteen seats. Eighteen name tags. Eighteen mugs warming cold hands. Small enough that we know each other’s stories; determined enough that we keep writing new ones.
“People think you need a big club to do big things,” someone said as the coffee finished dripping. We’ve heard versions of that for years—and we’ve answered the same way: by showing up. We’ve stretched every District 5340 opportunity we could access, from district grants to global grants. And when Club 33 asked for DDF support for the Atiak Hospital Global Grant, we didn’t overthink it. We said yes, because sometimes saying yes is how you learn what you’re capable of.
Not long after, we tried to build something of our own with our sister club in the Philippines. Messages arrived at odd hours—plans, photos, questions we answered between workdays and dinners. Then the host site changed leadership, and progress slowed. It wasn’t a failure; it was a reminder that good projects sometimes pause while the right people step into place.
Still, Rotary teaches you to keep moving with what you can control. One global grant continued through approval. Another was already in motion. So, when our sister club reached out again—another global grant, another chance to lean in—our board didn’t begin with a spreadsheet. We began with one question: Do we believe this will help? When the answer came back yes, someone finally said what we were all thinking: “We’ll move forward. We’ll figure out the match later.”
“Sometimes you have to take the leap of faith first—then trust your members to build the landing.”
Raising matching funds can feel like staring up a steep hill in dress shoes—especially for a small club. We chose a plan that matched our personality: practical, a little bold, and powered by relationships. Three casino bus trips. We tracked seat counts, called friends who called friends, and learned (again) that fundraising is really an invitation to be part of something bigger. When the last bus rolled back into town, we had raised the full amount needed for our global matching contribution—plus extra to spare.
That experience gave us a simple lesson we keep coming back to: trust your members, trust your mission, and trust the power of Rotary. The rest has a way of catching up.
Our impact isn’t only written in grant paperwork. For more than eight years, our club has sustained a micro lending program in the Philippines—quiet work that helps families build stability one small business at a time. And locally, we’ve multiplied our hands through partnership, working alongside the Chula Vista Visionaries Lions Club and outreach partners like the Filipino Press and its volunteer team to serve the San Diego community with steadier reach.
We’ve also learned something important by comparing notes with Rotarians outside our area: District 5340’s matching opportunity is rare. Many districts don’t offer district level matching for club cash contributions to global grants. Some require clubs to fund the full cash piece on their own; some reserve DDF for only a handful of large, multi club projects; some match only DDF with DDF; and some don’t match at all.
District 5340 is known for being unusually generous and proactive, especially in helping small clubs participate in global grants. That kind of support doesn’t just make projects easier; it makes them possible.
When the meeting ended that night, we stacked the chairs the way we always done by one, the count back down from eighteen. But the impact we carry is bigger than any number in the room. My members and I are sincerely grateful to Janice Kurth and everyone on the District Foundation Committee for this rare matching opportunity, something truly unique to District 5340. Because of that support, small but mighty clubs like ours can keep showing up for meaningful global work—and keep daring ourselves to dream bigger.