Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Rotary Club Santa Barbara North joined with Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee on a grant of more than $5,000 Rotary Dedicated District Fund to provide two items of physical-therapy equipment to a regional nonprofit rehabilitation clinic in Puerto Vallarta.

The equipment will be used for physical therapy of children and adults to relieve pain and accelerate the self-healing process, getting the body back to a healthy pain-free state. More than 700 patients with limited resources will benefit from the therapy annually.

In addition, the Rotary Clubs of Northern California: South West Eureka and South Ekiah, donated an ambulance for the Boca de Tomatlán clinic. The project was facilitated by Rotarian and volunteer, Salvador Rico, who also worked numerous hours making repairs to make the gift acceptable.

Ignacio Palomera, a Rotarian from El Tuito, was instrumental in arranging the importation documents. El Tuito is one of the communities served by the clinic. He also drove the ambulance from the San Diego border to Puerto Vallarta and made the presentation to Rotary Club of Puerto Vallarta Sur. Members of that club and the SB/PV Sister City committee welcomed the gift.

Santa Barbara and Puerto Vallarta have enjoyed an active Sister City relationship for more than 40 years and have twice been awarded national recognition as best overall sister city program for a city with a population 50,000 to 100,000. The awards were presented in 2014 and 2016 at the annual Sister Cities International conference.

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North was chartered in 1959 and continues to serve the Santa Barbara Community and international arena by our dedicated members. To learn more about the club and membership, visit rotaryclubsbnorth.org.