On March 31st, 2025, current president of the Rotary Club of Eleuthera (RCE), Ms. Jacqueline Gibson, standing in as a representative of the Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas (RCB), presented a cheque of nearly $6,000, from RCB to the Cancer Society of Eleuthera (CSE) – earmarked for the installation of an emergency water system at the CSE’s Wellness Center building in Palmetto Point, Central Eleuthera.
Ms. Gibson informed that the Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas – under the leadership of Assistant Governors Valentino Hamilton and Lionel Haven – approved funds for the emergency water system for the Cancer Society of Eleuthera, because of its experiences with water pressure issues at the Wellness Center due to reliance on public water.
These water issues create problems when the Society rents out its building for events, as it impacts hygiene and kitchen use, she explained, “Whenever we rent our building out – which we use as a revenue stream to help cancer patients; if the water is off, it can prove to be challenging. And it’s not a classy event when you have to get portable toilets on the outside. We have an emergency generator, so we’ll tie that in with our water system. This way, we will always have water for the Cancer Society, not only for special functions, but for the building in general.”
The $5,850 donation, Ms. Gibson detailed, will fund a 1,000 gallon water tank, a pressure tank, and a water pump to ensure a constant water supply. “The emergency water system is a backup for the building – for the facility to have running water 24/7 should there be a cut in the water supply, which has been happening over the past year. Then we can still continue on with running our facility and using our facility.”
The water system installation is planned for the end of May with the help of Rotary members from Nassau and Abaco. “Members of Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas, including clubs in Nassau and Abaco, are planning on coming to Eleuthera to do a community service project here at the Cancer Society to ensure that it is installed – in addition to doing some other service projects around the building,” she added.
This initiative actually follows similar water system installations at local schools, addressing issues where schools have had to send children home when the water is off, shared Ms. Gibson. “Rotary along with Rotoract -a branch of Rotary, installed a water system at the Emma E. Cooper primary school, which is a help to them. Also, we installed a similar system at Emily G. Petty primary school, with the support of the Rotary Club of South Ocean.”
