Each year during the holidays, Community Newspaper Company newspapers profile local charitable organizations and projects that could benefit from readers' generosity. This year, the Wellesley Townsman is focusing on the efforts of two local service organizations, the Wellesley Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club of Wellesley. This week's story is about the Rotary Club's efforts to raise money for Grenada, which was devastated by Hurricane Ivan in September. When Hurricane Ivan's 135-mph winds slammed into Grenada on Sept. 7, they virtually destroyed the tiny Caribbean island's economy. Even before the hurricane, Grenada had been facing challenges. Hurricane Ivan "just brought the country to its knees," said Larry Sheehan, who is coordinating the Wellesley Rotary Club's efforts to help the country. No building escaped, the livestock was killed, crops were destroyed and wells were tainted. Aid organizations stepped in to help, but because of the extent of the devastation, there simply hasn't been enough money to go around. Sheehan's family has a long-standing interest in Grenada, going back to the 1960s, when Sheehan's brother, Father William Sheehan, was a missionary there. Prior to his death following a beating at the hands of paramilitary forces, he built schools and an orphanage. After he died, the Sheehan family continued to make refurbished computers and scholarship money available through the Catholic church. n recent years, the family has provided scholarships through GRENED, a nongovernmental organization that has been working to improve education and training in Grenada. GRENED runs programs for both students and adult learners. GRENED's founder and director, Brandeis professor Dessima Williams, who has been active both in Grenada and on the global stage, was invited to speak to the Rotary Club. As she described what is happening in her native country, it was hard to sit there and listen without being deeply moved, Sheehan said. Once committed to helping, the club members' task was to find out where the need was greatest. They tried to contact the Rotary Club in Grenada, but telephones and e-mail in Grenada were not working. Finally, Williams was able to come up with a cell phone number for the Grenada club's president. As a result, the Wellesley club is now working to raise money for a girls' middle school, St. Joseph's Convent School in Grenville, which lost its roof and virtually everything else needed to run classes. (This year, because of the hurricane damage, funds from The Father William Sheehan Memorial Fund will also be directed to Rotary, to help with reconstruction of St. Joseph's.) "Rotary is very interested in education," noted Sheehan. In Grenada, the club needed to find a focus for its efforts, and chose a school that otherwise would have been forgotten. The club is hoping to get St. Joseph's computer and science labs, among other facilities, up and running again. Rotary prefers to see the needed equipment and supplies procured within the home country, "so the money cascades through the economy a number of times," Sheehan said. In this case, the Wellesley club will not only be helping to put a school back in order but contributing to the country's future by ordering locally. The club is planning to work with Rotary International, which will match the funds. "By the time [the money] gets to Grenada, it will have grown by at least double," Sheehan said. Sheehan knows many Americans are barely aware of Grenada's existence. They may recall only that Grenada was invaded by U.S. forces in 1983. But the people of Grenada are bright, industrious and "really deserve our attention," he said. To donate, send a check to the Wellesley Rotary Club, P.O. Box 206, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481. Please specify that it is a Gifts of Hope donation for the Grenada Project. For more information about GRENED and to see more photos of the havoc created by Hurricane Ivan, see http://www.grened.org/hurricanerelief.html Reprinted from The Wellesley Townsman