El Paso, TX / Ciudad Juárez, Mexico — November 21, 2025
As winter temperatures drop across the border region, more than 200 children in Ciudad Juárez received warm jackets through a cross-border collaboration between the Zaragoza Rotary Club of El Paso and Club Rotario Juárez Paso del Norte.
International Service in Action
The partnership between Zaragoza Rotary and Club Rotario Juárez Paso del Norte demonstrates how international service can happen at the local level. These aren't distant partnerships coordinated through intermediaries—they're neighboring clubs working together to serve the binational community they share.
Both clubs contributed to fundraising and jacket procurement, pooling resources to reach more children than either club could serve independently. This collaborative approach reflects the reality of the El Paso-Juárez region: two cities, one community, shared challenges.
Why Winter Coats Matter
A winter jacket isn't a luxury—it's essential infrastructure for a child's education and health. Without adequate cold-weather protection, children miss school, develop respiratory infections, and experience the physical discomfort that makes learning difficult even when they do attend.
For families already stretching limited resources to cover housing, food, and basic utilities, winter coats often fall into the category of "we'll make do without." Children wear multiple thin layers, inadequate hoodies, or simply endure the cold.
Project Goodwill removed that barrier for more than 200 children, ensuring they can attend school comfortably and safely throughout the winter season.
Cross-Border Leadership
The project was led by Rotarians from both clubs, including Luz Ofelia Mletzko, Sylvia D. Dcasso, Guadalupe Terrazas, Yolanda Cisneros, Nancy Casas, and Dr. Jose Luis Carbajal, along with members of both clubs working across the international border.
This kind of binational collaboration requires additional coordination—navigating customs, managing logistics across two countries, and building trust between organizations operating under different legal and cultural frameworks. The success of Project Goodwill reflects years of relationship-building between these clubs.
Rotary's International Reach, Local Impact
While Rotary International is known for global projects like polio eradication, much of its international work happens at this scale: neighboring communities addressing shared needs across borders.
The El Paso-Juárez relationship represents a microcosm of what international service can look like—practical, relational, focused on immediate needs, and built on the understanding that prosperity and wellbeing don't stop at political boundaries.
Two hundred children will stay warm this winter because two Rotary clubs chose collaboration over borders.
To learn more about international service projects in District 5520, visit rotary5520.org.