Dartmouth’s Sister City Delegation Committee raised approximately $1,000 at a fundraiser held at the Stackhouse Club on July 17.

The fundraising event featured a catered dinner and drinks donated by the Stackhouse Club for the 60 people who turned out to support the Sister City Delegation Committee. The committee helps to support cultural exchange programs with Dartmouth’s sister cities of Nordeste, Lagoa and Povoção in the Azores and the town of Dartmouth in the UK.

The Sister City Delegation Committee relies exclusively on fundraising and donations to help support various programs intended to connect the town of Dartmouth with its sister cities in the Azores and the UK. Funds raised through the dinner will allow the Sister City Delegation Committee to support and provide food, lodging and activities to delegates of Dartmouth’s sister cities for future visits to Dartmouth.

“The fundraiser will give us a cushion so we can host sister cities if they come to Dartmouth,” said Sister City Delegation Committee co-chairperson Sheila Koot. “None of the money will be used on us.”

In recent years, the Sister City Delegation Committee’s efforts to reach out to its sister cities has produced several major projects. Earlier this year, a delegation from the Azores visited Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech to study vocational education in the United States.

“Most of the employment opportunities in the Azores are in agriculture and farming,” said Sister City Delegation Committee co-chair Jane Carreiro. “There was great interest in bringing vocational tech [to the Azores.]”

In 2015, after the delegation toured University of Massachusetts—Dartmouth, the University of Azores and UMass Dartmouth began a "Bridging the Atlantic" nursing exchange, with several students traveling between the universities in an educational exchange program, said Koot.

Now, the Sister City Delegation Committee is hoping the success the delegation has enjoyed in the Azores will be repeated with Dartmouth’s newest sister city, Dartmouth, England. The delegation traveled to the United Kingdom in May and officially signed a sister city agreement.

The committee is now working with the Dartmouth Public Schools to better connect students with their counterparts in the UK. The committee hopes to bring the Mayflower 400—an international celebration of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth—into the school curriculum.

Over the next four years leading up to the anniversary, the committee plans to introduce a variety of activities and events into the public school curriculum and are in the process of meeting with Superintendent Bonny Gifford and the School Committee to see if there is any interest.