At 6 am on Wednesday, March 9, three Blissfield Rotarians — Bill Borchardt, Dr. Chris Mallow, Jerry Roessler, and one Rotary spouse, Jeff Sieler, headed out on a 30-plus hour road trip to the Laredo, Texas, border crossing to deliver a firetruck, which the club purchased, to the fire chief of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for use in the poverty stricken area of the city.

This international project is the biggest the club has taken on, and was made possible with the support of three additional Lenawee County Rotary clubs from Clinton and Adrian, and gained the support of a Rotary International Grant.

In June of 2010, Blissfield Rotary Club, with the support of a Rotary International Grant, and support from the Adrian and Clinton Rotary Clubs, purchased a used firetruck for delivery and use in Puerto Vallarta. When word of the project spread, the efforts of the Blissfield Club were aided by local fire departments which donated outdated gear and equipment, and assisted the club in creation of an operational video for use with the truck and its apparatus.

Blissfield Rotarians Bill Borchardt and Gary Bettis, who have done work on Rotary projects in the Puerto Vallarta dump area in past years, learned of the need and orchestrated the project from finding the truck for purchase through gaining appropriate paperwork to allow for passage through customs.

Those interested can follow the progress on the Blissfield Rotary Facebook page.