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.
District Governor's Message
Cabin 6 girls and their DG cabin counselor at RYLA
So today I am sitting in Ojai at Camp Ramah, where District 5240 holds the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards – a.k.a RYLA – with 245 high school campers and 40 volunteer staff who are mostly Rotarians. These volunteers come back year after year, and they stay connected with the students long after they leave RYLA. This is the ninth year I have been a counselor at RYLA, and some of the RYLA alumni with whom I remain in contact are now married with careers.
It is fitting that May is Youth Service Month. This is the month we see our youth attend prom, participate in graduations of all ages, look to the future with college plans, and try to decide their future. Summer is ahead for them, including family vacation, camps, summer school, and finding work.
Our youth in North America are blessed in so many ways. And Rotary does an incredible amount of work around the world to have a positive influence on the world’s children.
Here in 5240 we are very involved with our youth. Currently there are 110 Interact Clubs and 10 Rotaract Clubs. There are a few Youth Act clubs in the elementary schools too. We held our Interact District Conference concurrent with our District Conference in October. The 120 Interactors who attended LOVED it. They felt accepted and valued by the Rotarians. We are holding the first Rotaract Leadership Retreat in a while (if ever) in June for the ten clubs.
Besides RYLA, we hold two one-day RYLA’s aka Youth Empowerment Seminars – Simi YES and KERN YES. These are very special days for students who are not able to attend RYLA.
As Governor, I am so proud of the dedicated Rotarians who year after year take to heart the need for Rotary to support youth programs. From feeding our homeless youth, to clothing drives or shopping trips with the youth to purchase school clothes, to putting together bikes at Christmas, to providing Thanksgiving meals to the less fortunate, to sending our youth to foreign countries through Rotary Youth Exchange and receiving back students from all over the world to live in our District, Rotary is there. One of my favorite programs is our annual dictionary program. My club alone gives out over 1,000 dictionaries to students in three schools. It is overwhelming and heartwarming to see the look on the children’s faces when they understand the book is theirs. My other favorite is the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks, which twice a year take books to inmates in the Ventura detention center. They record the inmates reading a children’s book, and then they take the book and the recording of the book by the inmate to the inmate’s children, so the children can hear their Mom or Dad read to them. It’s a brilliant idea, and there is not a dry eye among the Rotarian volunteers when they help these inmates with the recording.
The cliché is true that these young people are our future. If we don’t invest time, talent, and treasure now, we are missing out. But sitting here today typing this report, and watching these amazing students and passionate volunteers at RYLA, my heart is full. Thank you, District 5240!
Sandi Schwartz
District Governor 2018-19
Official District Governor Visit Moments
Chief of "Stuff" Jacque Jans and DG Sandi at the "Ladies Night" fundraiser for Westlake Village Sunrise Rotary Club. Thelma and Louise costumes
April 6 District Cleanup back with my home club and members PP Tom Burch and District Community Service Director Fernando Aguirre
District 5240 team boarding the plane home. Pictured with members of District 3721 in Busan, Korea including DG Nam
Avenue of Service Spotlight - Club
As a result of a recent survey, we now have almost 400 club members and guests that want to attend the District 5240 Dodger/Giants game social on June 20, 2019. Here are some important details:
The Dodgers only have enough space for 241 guests to attend the banquet. As a reminder, the cost is $75.00 per guest which includes a dodger dog, drink, salad, bag of chips and baseball game seat ticket. The banquet and game seats assigned to our group are in the loge section behind the Dodger dugout of Dodger Stadium. The first 241 club members and guests combined that enroll will be able to attend the banquet.
The first 150 club members and guests that sign up for the event are also entitled to participate in a group photo behind home plate on the Dodger field right after batting practice.
The balance of the club members and their guests that sign up will be able to attend the game in the loge section of the stadium and right across from where the banquet is being held. Those ticket prices are $55.00 each and are better seats than the ones being assigned to those who are attending the banquet.
Our district and its clubs will be recognized during the game on the big board.
All club members and guests are requested to wear a Rotary hat to help our district promote rotary.
Each club is requested to have one member attending the event use their cell phone to take photos and videos to do face book posts to their club, group and the district Facebook pages. All club members are asked to like these posts on Facebook and post comments to promote our event and Rotary.
Bus service is being provided by Pacific Coachways. The cost to ride the bus if $25.00 per person. Each bus holds 50 passengers. We have one bus reserved and will add more as needed with additional reservations. The buses leave the Best Western Thousand Oaks Inn at 3:00 p.m. sharp. It is advisable to confirm your arrival with the hotel but not check in until after you get back from the game to save time. The hotel information is on the website and all club members and guests wanting to make reservations with the hotel are asked to contact it directly. Mention “Rotary” for your discount prices.
We will all meet at the Best Western Thousand Oaks Inn at 2:30 p.m. Parking is available in the hotel parking lot for all club members and guests coming to the hotel to meet and greet before the game.
The game starts at 7:00 p.m. The buses take all of their passengers back to the Best Western Thousand Oaks Inn after the game.
For those not going to the game by bus, you should go to Dodger stadium and park close to the loge section of the stadium. We will supply more detailed information later about where everything is located so everyone is on the same page.
Finally and most importantly, there is a registration link below. The site is operated by club runner and only two can sign up at a time. Club members should pay for themselves and all of their guests so that we can trace the club members to their guests for banquet, game and bus ticket distributions later. Once again it is important that we are able to trace club members with their guests. So all club members should pay with their credit cards so we can do a proper accounting.
We are pleased, honored and excited about the level of enthusiasm the clubs and their members have shown for this event. It is the club members who have made it a great and successful event.
Join our Council on Legislation Representative PDG Wade Nomura on this webinar to find out about the actions that took place at the 2019 Council on Legislation and what those changes mean for you and your club.
In these webinar sessions, subscribers will get a guided tour of ClubRunner's features and how it will help you automate, streamline and enhance communication for your club. There are various specialized sessions available to help you get the most out of your level of site access.
Rotarians have always been peacebuilders. Every project that we do locally or around the world both improves lives and contributes to more peaceful communities. When you assist the homeless, mentor students or support our troops, you are building peace. When you participate in an international project or give to the The Rotary Foundation Peace Centers, you are building peace.
The District 5240 Peacebuilder Club program is a way for you to remind the Rotarians in your club and the residents of your local community that Rotarians and Rotary projects build peace.
Becoming a Peacebuilder Club is easy. Go to the District Website Peace Page, download the requirements, complete the report form and forward the completed form to the district. Your club will be recognized with a banner and certificate identifying the club as Rotary Year 2018-19 peacebuilders.
Peacebuilder Reports are due no later than June 15.
On April 26, 2019 the Rotary Club of Moorpark honored Officers of the Year -- CHP Officer Jaime Morado and Deputy Preston Furukawa. President Scott Hess presented them with a trophy and added their names on the Officers of the Year wall plaque. They were individually recognized for demonstrating through actions and deeds to be the most deserving of the Award. The Rotary club shared their appreciation with CHP Officer Morado and Deputy Sheriff Furukawa for keeping them safe and for their dedication, leadership, and heroism.
In photo: Officers of the Year: CHP Officer Jaime Morado (4rd from left), Deputy Sheriff Preston Furukawa (3rd from left), Rotarian's Moorpark Chief of Police Victor Fazio, and Deputy Sheriff Sargeant Darren Hendren, Deputy Sheriff Juan Ponce (former Officer of the Year), Rotary President Scott Hess, and Rotarian Dale Parvin
“Unfurling the gifts of Autism” is the theme of Hidden Wings, a ten-year old non-profit school in Solvang, that serves young adults with autism and other developmental delays. The Rotary Club of Solvang is adapting its “job shadowing” model to assist Hidden Wings toward achieving its vocational program goals for its students.
Under the model format, Solvang Rotarians will seek to identify and “recruit” business and other community leaders to serve as “Hosts” to students who will visit, work, and learn to focus, “…on their gifts, not their deficits, which empower them to lead full and productive lives in society”. (Hidden Wings pamphlet)
The goal is for students to learn, not only job-specific skills, but also social skills. Successfully serving these special-needs students requires consideration of both activity-appropriate Hosts, as well as desirable vocational pursuits.
Tepehua is a Barrio in the Guadalajara-Lake Chapala area. The resident’s access to water is a sand pipe where the well is contaminated with arsenic and lead. This leads to renal failure in children and young mothers.
They drink soda because it is cheaper than buying bottled water. Drinking soda in large quantities causes health problems including diabetes. Residents can’t afford medical either. It is a sad cycle for the residents.
The Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo Daybreak created a project that provides funds where residents can buy 5 gallon bottles ( Garrafons ) of water at cost for 13 pesos versus 30 -- pesos the full retail cost. They also purchased the Garrafons and racks for storage. The water is purchased from a legitimate purification vendor. There are many “pirate” vendors who sell for less but water quality is questionable.
The first 150 club members and guests that sign up for the event are also entitled to participate in a group photo behind home plate on the Dodger field right after batting practice.
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