Home Page | Rotary District 5240

Rotary District 5240 is made up of over 3,300 members from: 72 Rotary Clubs located in 4 counties of Southern California; The Rotary E Club of One World which spans over 6 continents; The "National Chapters" of The Rotary Club of Carpenteria Morning which connect local clubs to members in other states and countries. We meet regularly to form bonds and friendships and we also strive to improve lives locally and around the world.

Simi Sunset's Reading By Nine Project

The Rotary Club of Simi Sunset recently did their annual Reading By Nine community project.

The event took place on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at Arroyo Vista and Knolls Elementary Schools in Simi Valley.

This long time community project started with the Rotary Club of Simi Sunset getting a Rotary grant to help fund the purchase of hundreds of books for an elementary school. This year's club Community Service Chair, Stephanie Sieminski and club Secretary, Amanda Wilson, then coordinated with Simi's School District to find out which elementary school had the most need for new books. This year, the combined donations from the Simi Sunset Club and Rotary Grants helped provide enough books for TWO schools -- Arroyo Vista Elementary and Knolls Elementary. Stephanie then coordinated with the schools to plan a day where Rotarians can deliver the books to several classrooms, possibly read a story or two, and get the children excited about reading. One of Rotary's key causes is to support basic education and literacy.

Short Leash Hot Dog Social

The Rotary Club of Pismo Beach Five Cities is inviting all Rotary Clubs in District 5240 to come together for a Joint Club Fellowship and a hot diggity dog dinner.

Place: St. Barnabas Episcopal Church - 301 Trinity, Arroyo Grande

Time: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Wade Nomura (Past District Governor - 2011-2012)

Made the way you like it from their Rotary Service Bar. They'll provide the gourmet hot dogs, buns, chips, and all the toppings:

Rotary Club of Oxnard Honors Special Teachers

The Rotary Club of Oxnard continues to recognize outstanding teachers in the Oxnard School District, the Oxnard Union High School District, and the Rio School District. For the ninth year, the Rotary Club provides a gift basket and marble “apple for the teacher” in recognition of the recipient’s outstanding teaching and service to students, parents, and school. In partnership with the County Schools Federal Credit Union, the recognition also includes a monetary award for the teacher to help cover the many out-of-pocket expenses teachers incur. An additional corporate partner, the Courtyard by Marriott-Oxnard, provides this special teacher a gift certificate for a one-night stay for two. The Teacher Recognition Program continues the efforts of the Rotary Club of Oxnard to thank those special teachers in our community who demonstrate outstanding Service Above Self, the motto of Rotary International.

Rotary Club of Ventura-East supports the Ventura Family YMCA Operation Ventura

President Jeff Hata presented Amy Bailey, Executive Director of the Ventura Family YMCA with a $6,000 donation to continue support of Operation Ventura. Operation Ventura started 10 years ago as a learn to swim program for homeless and financially disadvantaged youth. Over the years our partnership has continued and with this donation the Rotary Club of Ventura-East has donated $51,000 and will have touched over 2,200 children in our community. For the second year Ventura-East member Laura Shannon is contributing another $1,000 to the program!

4-Way Test Essay Contest

***DUE TO MANY REQUESTS, WE HAVE PUSHED BACK THE DEADLINE SUBMISSION TO APRIL 1ST.***

Goal

To encourage students to consider how “The 4-Way Test” can be used in everyday decision-making. This is accomplished by expressing their thoughts in an essay that relates a case or story where they applied these principles in their everyday life.

Who is Eligible?
All elementary school (1-5), middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12) students.

Awards
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for elementary, middle, and high school

First Place - $300 Second Place - $200 Third Place - $100

Winners will be selected by a District Review Team for the above listed cash awards. The cash awards will be handed out by the sponsoring Club President and the District Governor, or District Representative.

Ron Helus Scholarship of Valor

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

During the tragic events of November 2018, Moorpark lost a hero in resident and Ventura County Sheriff’s Officer Sergeant Ron Helus.

In honor and remembrance of Sergeant Helus, The Rotary Club of Moorpark Morning with the support of the Helus Family is establishing a scholarship in his name. The Ron Helus Scholarship of Valor.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a Moorpark student interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.

We are asking our fellow community members to help launch this endeavor with a donation as it is our hope to award the inaugural Ron Helus Scholarship of Valor this June, 2019.

With monies raised, the Rotary Club plans to setup an endowment allowing this scholar to continue annually fully funded.

If you are interested in donating to the Ron Helus Scholarship of Valor, you may make your Tax Deductible donation to the Rotary Club of Moorpark Morning HERE, or you may mail it to the address below:

The Rotary Club of Moorpark Morning Foundation
207 Los Angeles Ave. #212

Moorpark, CA 93021

Best Regards,
The Rotary Club of Moorpark Morning

Viva La Comida Dinner

The Rotary Club of Camarillo hosted its annual Viva la Comida Dinner and Fiesta fundraiser Monday at the Camarillo Community Center. Guests were treated to a dinner of enchiladas that included rice, beans and salad, plus a salsa bar. There were 875 tickets bought in advance and more people purchased tickets at the door. All of the money raised goes toward scholarships and local charities, including the Boys & Girls Club.

Check out the article in the Ventura County Star.

District 5240 Dodger Game Social Event & Fundraiser

Posted by District Club Service Chair, Mike Murphy

On June 20, 2019, at Los Angeles Dodger Stadium, Rotary District 5240 will be holding its very first district-wide social event and fund raiser. On that date the Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing the San Francisco Giants. The Los Angeles Dodgers have offered us the opportunity to have our district social event at Dodger Stadium as follows:

We will be assigned 100 to 200 seats for the baseball game.
The event ticket prices are $75.00 per person. This discounted ticket price includes the following:
- A game seat for each attendee at the loge dugout level in the stadium.
- Access to a hospitality area assigned to just our attendees and guests where we can all meet and socialize before the game.
- Each attendee will receive with the ticket price a dodger dog, soda, bag of chips and salad. The food will be served in the hospitality area.

If we end up having close to 200 attendees, the Dodgers will make available to us a special Fan Experience where we all may be invited to go onto the field for a special event created just for us. During the game, Rotary District 5240 will receive a special game board recognition no matter how many of us attend the event. Depending upon how many attend the baseball game, we may also be able to arrange to have buses take our club members to the game from a selected location.

In order to secure the date of June 20, 2019 for the game and the number of seats we will require to hold this event, the District must pay a 20% advance deposit to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the number of seats to be purchased for this event. Therefore, we need the club presidents’ assistance in promptly answering and sending to me a survey that was recently provided to them by their Assistant Governors so that we can proceed with the planning for this event.

Rotary District 5240 will also be holding concurrently a district wide charity fund raiser. We would like to request that each club in the district donate funds to help the victims of the Borderline shooting. The money collected from the clubs for this fund raiser will be deposited into the District 5240 Rotary Foundation. A check from the proceeds collected from the clubs will be issued to the charitable cause during District Governor Sandi’s step down lunch.

We look forward to having a wonderful district baseball game event. It is also awesome that our clubs can work together to raise funds and have a major positive impact on the lives of the victims and families of the Borderline shooting.

With best regards,

Mike Murphy

District 5240 Club Service Chair

Michael@murphlaw.net

Rose Parade Float Decorating Story

SERVICE ROCKS INDEED!

By: Jim Hoover, Rotary Club of China Lake

You don’t inspire future Rotarians by telling them about Rotary as much as you do by giving them a Rotary experience – even if it’s gluing split peas on a sign, one seed at a time.

Decorating a Rose Parade float as a volunteer is no small act of service, and the experience for Interactors and Rotarian chaperones too ☺ can be inspiring in many ways. Opportunities abound to meet and work with other Rotarians and Interactors and even meet master float builders like the specialists who work for Disney. A satisfying sense of accomplishment is felt, partly by seeing a huge work of art take on color and texture before your eyes, with your own hands; and partly through the teamwork spirit of eager, smiling volunteers. Being the inspiration isn’t necessarily easy work, but it can result in being inspired too… a wonderfully positive, reinforcing cycle.

Our group of 10 volunteer decorators in the Interact Club of Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, CA journeyed to Irwindale, CA – the site where Phoenix Decorating Company is building the Rotary Rose Parade Float, a Princesses’ Trophy-winner in the 2017 and 2018 Rose Parades. The group’s 1 December, all-day, hands-on lesson was how to decorate a Rose Parade float. Chaperoned by their Math teacher, an Honorary Rotarian and the local, Rotary Club of China Lake president, the students prepared and applied dried flowers and seeds that make-up the natural, colorful, textured background for the fresh flowers that go on in the final hours.

So, when a giant, “duded-up” crocodile rolls-out and rocks-out on parade day, at least 10 Rotary inspirations from Burroughs High School will be able to watch with a very personal satisfaction knowing they had a part to play in that – and be inspired that much more.

Please find more information about the Rotary Rose Parade Float at https://www.rotaryfloat.org and enjoy seeing seeds of “service above self” being planted during the Rose Parade.

Rotary Club of Paso Robles Sunrise Welcomes 5 New Members

Paso Robles Sunrise Rotary is a dynamic group of early risers. Our participation in community projects and fundraisers is productive and diverse. We recently facilitated our “Peace is Possible” seminar, which was a resounding success. We’ve also welcomed several new members who have already demonstrated their commitment to our “service above self” mission. We’re thrilled they chose to become a part of our Rotary family.

Amy Edney is originally from New York and has lived in California five years. She worked in financial services for many years, and is now employed in recruiting. She joined Rotary to serve her community.

Read Previous Stories...

Rotary District 5240 encourages clubs within the District to submit short articles, "Club Stories," to be published on the District Website and in the District Newsletter. Take advantage of this FREE opportunity to showcase your club's accomplishments. Here are the guidelines and the "how-to" for submitting your stories.

WHAT qualifies as a Club Story?

Club Stories are highlights of District 5240 Club-specific activities. The following examples illustrate activities that qualify as District 5240 Club Stories (upcoming or after the fact):

Community Service Projects
International Service Projects
New Membership Highlights
Club Fundraising Events
Member Award Recognitions

HOW do I submit my Club Story?

After you make sure the story qualifies as a "Club Story," you may submit it by emailing ALL of the following items to stories@district5240.org:

A short summary of the activity, minimum 50 words and maximum 250 words. Please submit as a Word doc and proofread prior to sending. If the content is copywrited/re-used from another source, permission must be granted and please reference the source.
Include 2-3 of the best photographs taken from the activity. If there are individuals included in the photo, please include names and Club titles of each Rotarian. (If there is a YouTube video link taken from the event, please include as well).
Include the contact information of the most appropriate Rotarian that others may reach out to regarding the featured story.

WHERE will my Club Story be posted?

The three most recently published Club Stories will be highlighted on the homepage of www.rotarydistrict5240.org, while an archive of previous Club Stories will be included and available to view under the menu tab, District -> Archived District Stories.

Your story may also be selected for the District Newsletter which goes out to our nearly 3300 active members.

WHEN will my Club Story be posted after I submit?

Depending on the amount of Club Stories in the cue, your article could take as short as 24 hours or up to 2 weeks to be published after all necessary information is received.