Rotary Club donates money to help Matamoros school

HARLINGEN — The Rotary Club of Harlingen has donated $3,500 Friday to the Rotary Club of Matamoros, Mexico, to help with construction costs of a school cafeteria there.

The Matamoros club is contributing $3,500 and has received a matching grant from Rotary International of $7,000. The total of $14,000 will help relocate a school building that was donated by the Mexican government and cover installation costs for the school cafeteria.

Rotarians met Friday at the Harlingen Country Club with representatives of the Matamoros club to present the check. Rev. William Reagan introduced the Matamoros club and said he was happy that Harlingen Rotary was able to contribute to this project.

Representatives of the Matamoros club included President Humberto Acosta and club members Adriana Villarreal, Sergio Guerra and Alex Peña.

Acosta presented a slide show of the elementary school that serves about 380 children in Colonia Loma Alta in southeast Matamoros.

Showing “before” and “after” slides, he explained how the club has improved the school.

Since 1997, Villarreal said, the Matamoros club has helped to build 11 concrete classrooms to replace the wooden classrooms and also built 12 new restrooms to replace the three run-down ones that served the children and teachers at the school.

Building a cafeteria will help boost student performance, Acosta said.

“It’s not every day that we get a donation,” Acosta said. “In order to have a good student they have to be well fed.”

Acosta said that some of the children who attend the school probably don’t eat breakfast before starting their lessons, and hopes having a cafeteria will change that.

“It’s going to improve the level of education in a very poor area (of Matamoros),” Acosta said.

Villarreal said it has taken some time to revitalize the school because of limited funds.

“We don’t have enough money,” Villarreal said. “There are other projects (that the Matamoros club helped fund) also, such as the mobile unit that helps diagnose cancer in women.”

Villarreal said the parents of the children enrolled at the school have also made a significant contribution to improve the elementary school. Some mothers help make breakfast for the children at times.

Acosta said he hopes to improve the landscaping at the school and possibly even add a playground where the children can play sports.