Stories

On Saturday, October 19, the Rotary Club of Cambria held a 5K Walk/Run to Eradicate Polio. About 66 people laced up their sneakers and joined a community of like-minded people coming together for a great cause. It was a beautiful day along the Pacific Ocean, with waves crashing and seagulls soaring. In the end, $9500 was raised! With the 2 to 1 match provided by the Gates Foundation, this total escalates to $28,500 towards Rotary’s goal of ending Polio for good! 

A great day Saturday at Rotary Park where we planted trees, mulched, and cleaned up the area.  Thank you to Bakersfield and West Rotary volunteers!  A special shout out to our student volunteers from BC Rotaract, Centennial, West High, and Chloe from BCHS.

For the past 7 years, with the exception of Covid, Rotary Club of Cayucos has  awarded three to four $1,000 scholarships annually to students majoring in music at Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo.  This vocational service project is carried out in honor of our club mentor, Past District Governor, Chungsam Doh & aptly named the ‘Chungsam Doh Music Scholarship Fund’. The aim is to support students desiring to pursue music as a career.

Cuesta students must meet a set of criteria and have to undergo an audition to apply for Rotary Club of Cayucos’ music scholarships. Each student would have to perform their own recital to be selected. It’s a delight to watch each performance, as the students are talented.

This Rotary Year, District Governor Scott Philips had a chance to watch the recital, and opportunity to share Rotary with students at Cuesta College. District Governor Scott Philips also did the honors and awarded three scholarships to Regan Rowin, Daniel Gomez and Joseph Montano at Cuesta College.

Despite covid, Club President Michele Lilley remained steadfast and continued to receive undeterred interest from school kids around town to join us in our bi-monthly beach clean-ups.

These youths are a joy to work with. They are enthusiastic and scour all over the beach and street to find that "treasured" trash.

Cayucan Rotarians started picking up way back when the club was first chartered in 2008-2009. The project has become an annual project since inception, and grown stronger from a quarterly clean-up to a bi-monthly sting.

Kudos to our club president Michele Lilley and our young aspiring Rotarians-to-Be.  We appreciate them.

Sandy Cha, the new owner of The Cambria Business Center, is given an inspirational New Member Orientation at the home of Roger and Sue Robinson.  Sandy was an Interact member in her youth.  She and her husband, Johathan Mumper, have two young children, encouraging a renewed interest in pursuing family-oriented events and projects.  Membership Chair, Donna Crocker, affixes Sandy's mini-me figure onto the Golden Jubilee 50th  Anniversary Cambria "Member Ship".  Julian Crocker reads a Seventh Grader's prize-winning essay to teach Sandy about the 4-Way Test, and other members give Sandy highlights about Rotary's history and the projects they most appreciated & enjoyed.  The "Artful Dodger" Otis Archie & Donna lead the attendees in welcoming Sandy with a rendition of "Consider Yourself One of Us" from the musical "Oliver".  Although Otis is snowbound for this February orientation, he joins the event virtually.  Cambria Rotary has welcomed 4 new members in the 2021-2022 term, all of whom are taking active roles in the Club.  We are blessed.

On Thursday evening, April 21, 2022, the two Westlake Village Rotary Clubs ( Westlake Sunrise and Westlake Village Rotary Club) came together for a signing ceremony at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks to sign a MOU ( Memorandum of Understanding ) in preparation for our 2^nd Annual  Holidays In The Village event on Sun. 12/4/22.

The enclosed picture identifies those on the planning committee for this event. They are as follows. From Left

Matt Midura- PEN- WLV Sunrise

Ryan Majus- WLV Rotary

Cristina Ortega- WLV Rotary

Rotarians support peace when we address the inhibitors to positive peace which include lack of opportunity and lack of hope.   To increase awareness of and to provide opportunities and hope to athletes who have suffered paralytic injuries, Westlake Village Sunrise formed a partnership with Swim With Mike, an organization that provides scholarships to injured athletes.  The mission of Swim With Mike is to change the lives of student-athletes who have experienced catastrophic injury or illness by providing scholarships, creating community and instilling hope and purpose in their lives. Representatives from Swim With Mike spoke at club meetings.  A fundraiser was held led by President Jim Wisdom who himself had suffered a serious injury as a teenager.  An article on April 8, 2022, in The Acorn local newspaper provided public awareness of the club and the cause.  President Jim participated in a swimathon to increase awareness and providing funding to Swim With Mike.  Jim's  250 laps raised more than $2500 for Swim with Mike and the athletes it supports. Through these efforts, the Rotarians of Westlake Village Sunrise have increased positive peace in the communities and athletes served by Swim with Mike.

Rotarians are asked to serve their communities using their skills, strengths, and talents. Westlake Village Noon wanted to create Holidays In the Village (HITV), a European style Christmas Market, as an annual community event in early December that was family friendly. It was too big a challenge and needed more skills than they had in their Club. Solution – partner with Westlake Village Sunrise and the City of Westlake Village!

We pulled it off! On Sunday, December 12, 2021, HITV was an amazing success with thousands of attendees! The overwhelming feedback from attendees: We had a wonderful time! Please tell us you are doing it again next year! Well – we are! The second annual HITV will be on December 4, 2022.

The Rotary Health Center Jessore, Bangladesh It is a non-profit 50-bed general Hospital for the poor people in this region.  Both outdoor and indoor medical services are provided for the poor in the community at nominal cost.  Every year in the outdoor section 2500 patients receive medical consultation, treatment and medicine from an outdoor medical officer.

More than 1000 operations are conducted yearly in the indoor section of the hospital.  The health center also offers arsenicosis patient management as arsenic contamination is rampant in Jessore.

The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise places a priority on neighbors in need.

From cleaning up yards for people who cannot do it themselves to installing smoke alarms in the homes of senior citizens and to coordinating with other local services to assist us in these efforts, our Rotarians are People of Action!

The Rotary Club of Santa Maria Noon Interact Club held the 1st Annual International Food Faire May 3rd.  There were 12 countries represented.  Noon Rotary Youth Director Erinn Dougherty brought the group in.  Club Advisor, Honorary Rotarian Jules Tuggle is a teacher at St. Josephs High School where the club is located.  Jules put this 1 minute video together for our benefit.

The Food Faire activity was designed to introduce the entire 450 student body to other cultures.  It was a peace building activity.  $1000. was raised to send to a "sister high school" in Africa.  A handful of the Interact Club members were brought in a van by Sports Coach Tom along with school Principal Erinn from the school to the Noon Club meeting May 10th.

The Rotary Club of Santa Maria Noon is in an area where farming is the top industry.  Our Club had no active members in this Classification.  Our Club Classifications Director Tom Allen asked us to focus on this area.  We then had two off site tours during the year; one at a farm and one at a new Vocational Ag High School campus.  We had one program at the meeting site in addition focused on "farm box vegetable service". Our programs were revved up in topics like economics and international peace fellows that have worked in farming as well as other areas.

The net result is that we have attracted two potential new members.  One will be inducted later in May. 

We’ve got two excellent youth service projects we’d like to share! One is working with Conejo Valley High School seniors and the other with a middle schooler that has an excellent passion project!

For several years we’ve sponsored our local Conejo Valley High School Interact. These young adults are not what most people think they are. Some of these students come from very challenging backgrounds without transportation to school. Others have basic needs that are not met and do not allow them to have an environment to grow. For example, some of the students must care for their siblings, thus they fall behind in academics in other high schools in the Conejo Valley.

Youth Service opportunities were limited this year, but the Rotary  Club of Simi Sunrise is proud to have sponsored three amazing students for RYLA this year.

All three students came to one of our meetings to share their experiences with us.

Their words were powerful.  One of them said, “Coming here has inspired me to chase my dreams, have a voice and become a better leader.”

Through programs like RYLA and our scholarship awards for graduating seniors, the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise is proud to be helping our youth build a brighter future.

The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise maintains a Club per capita contribution of at least $200 to the TRF Annual Fund.

From awarding a Paul Harris Fellow to a new Rotarian this year to holding drawings for a PHF for contributing members , we are proud to support The Rotary Foundation, the work it does and the Rotary values it stands for.

In celebration of Arbor Day the Moorpark Morning Rotary Club planted a tree at Miller Park in Moorpark on April 30! It was great to have some of our newer members come out and help make the event happen.

Here are just a few benefits trees bring to our community:

• Trees help absorb the sounds of traffic in urban areas by 40%.

• Neighborhoods with trees are seven to nine degrees cooler than those without.

For the two years I have been President we have talked about bringing the Moorpark Morning Rotary and the Moorpark Rotary together for a group social. Cinco de Mayo was the day it finally happened.  We made new friends, caught up with old and had a few drinks to celebrate the occasion!

Volunteers of the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo recently completed the restoration of Eto Park at 170 Brook Street in San Luis Obispo, CA. The Park, originally constructed in 2002 by SLO Rotary, was built in recognition of Eto family who contributed to the development and culture of the community over the past century. The Park had fallen into disrepair and was restored by 46 Rotary volunteers this year.

In 1902, 18-year old Tameji Eto emigrated from Japan to California, settling in San Luis Obispo County in 1914, where he organized various agricultural organizations, was involved in the Co-Operative Farm Industry of Southern California, and serve as a leader of the Japanese community in San Luis Obispo.

We wanted to share our club's success regarding our foundation's hard work in the community. In response to Covid starting March 2020, our Foundation, Rotary Club of Carpinteria Sunset Foundation, Inc we rolled out the 93013fund. We raised over $200,000.00 between now and then. Please follow the website link below and select to read our article ran in our Coastal View newspaper July 2021:  https://93013fund.org

We had a really special Book Club and Author Event during this Rotary Year.  I am fortunate enough to know a woman who is a good friend of best selling author David Michaelis, who has written an extraordinary biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, “Eleanor”.  It was a New York Times bestseller, and Pulitzer Prize winning author David Michaelis presenting a “stunning” (per the Wall Street Journal) breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, America’s longest serving First Lady. 

All our Rotary Book Club members had read the book, and I think we were riveted by David’s incredible presentation of his many years of research on this remarkable woman.  I personally am a real history buff, and learned a huge amount about her I had never known before.  I think it was a very special and memorable event.

The official launch of the Mentoring program was a huge success. Steve Gerteis, Interact Liaison and Mary Layman, Vocational Chair person talked to students about the program and invited them to become mentored by our Rotarians. About 45-50 students at Carpinteria High expressed interest which shows how hungry our kids are for help.  The Rotary Student Program connects high school students with business professionals living their dream career.

By exploring the possibilities in the earliest stages of their career development and selection process, they have the chance to confirm or redirect their dreams. In live, virtual reverse-interview settings hosted by Rotarians, student participants gain rare access to professionals that are considered experts in their fields —from CEOs of global corporations to small-business owners and startup entrepreneurs.

In the Summer of 2021, the Conejo Valley Rotary Club, set out to continue and expand our Annual Thanksgiving Meal Distribution.  The annual mission of the distribution is to help rebuild local communities by connecting families to their impoverished neighbors in need. We identified families in need through local charities including CancerFit, Conejo Community Outreach, and The Bumblebee Foundation.

In 2020, we had cooked and served about 1,260 meals and in 2021 we set out to double the meals cooked and delivered. All in all, with the help of Group 4 Rotary Clubs, other District 5240 Rotary Clubs such as RC Simi Sunset, D2 Giving Inc, and local Rotaract and Interact Clubs we nearly tripled our production and cooked and delivered over 3,300 meals.

The Rotary Club of Camarillo won an award for being the top fundraising team at the recent Walk for Kids benefitting the new Ronald McDonald Family Room at Ventura County Medical Center.  Here is President-elect Laurie Bennett with the trophy. 

Dawn O'Bar, Charter member and Past President of the Rotary EClub of One World, has written and published a book called, COVID 2020- A Year Like No Other; a roller coaster ride of losses, challenges and opportunities.   

The book started out as a memoir of her experiences during the start of the pandemic, but became a larger project as she interviews people from around the world including Rotary members from eight different countries.  The chapters are framed with inspirational stories and there are reflection questions posed for the reader to process his/her own thoughts and experiences for future generations.

This year we are once again working with Jose Gonzales of the Lamont Chamber of Commerce to assist with Scholarships for academically qualified and financially needy High School Seniors graduating from Arvin High School.  Lamont/Arvin is a rural agricultural area in Kern County with economic challenges.  Many of these students are the first in their family to attend College.

The Rotary Club of SLO de Tolosa has a longstanding tradition of bringing together its seasoned, new, and prospective Rotarians for social events at members’ businesses.  On April 27, the club gathered for an early Cinco de Mayo-themed event at Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors.  As you can see, we had a great time!

On Saturday, April 30th, Simi Sunrise Rotary attended the Simi Valley Chamber Street Fair. There were hundreds of visitors that walked a stretch of approximately 1/2 of a mile. The street was packed with community members; we were able to talk about our club and the activities that we are currently engaged in.

We delivered our Rotary elevator speech.

We sold tickets to our upcoming music festival, invited people to color a picture, and handed out cards to attend a meeting, as a guest.

The Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, founded in 1984, is currently 84 members. We aren’t looking to grow larger, but want to maintain this size.

For 2021-2022, our membership committee identified these goals:

·      Attract Young Professionals (less than 11% of our members are under age 40)
Our new Young Professionals Plan has a lower financial commitment, if needed. All members are asked to support the YP plan on their annual financial commitment form. Just at one meeting when announced, $1000 was contributed.

As Rotarians we should make every effort to have our clubs incorporate PeaceBuilding/Conflict Resolutions projects. Rotary Clubs in Kern County continue to do community service projects that could qualify as Peace Building projects. In 2020 Bakersfield College kicked off the BC Peace Initiative to create a Peace Garden on campus. Dr. Sonya Christian President of Bakersfield College at the time, indicated  partnership with Rotary and other community groups working towards peace. Several seminars designed to engage small groups including women, veterans, educators and police in conversations about peace and how we can build it.

In October 2, 2021 Dr. Bharati Shah unveiled the BC Peace Garden on the birthdate of Mahatma Gandhi. Bakersfield East Rotary funded the Rotary Peace Pole the first in our area.

Paul Orfalea, the Founder of Kinko’s, was the Guest Speaker at the Rotary Club of Ventura South on April 25th. Paul Orfalea is an American businessman who founded the copy chain Kinko's in Santa Barbara in 1970 for 100 square feet and a $5,000 loan. He built the business to 1,200 locations and over $2 billion in sales and was named the best company to work for three years in a row by Fortune Magazine.

Some lessons from Paul:

“There are only 3 things you do in business 1) motivate your workers 2) understand your customers and 3) Balance your checkbook.”

Julius Achon had a dream to build a Medical Clinic in his village of Awake in honor of his mother Kristina who was shot and killed during the war in 2004. With the closest access to health care being 78kms away, there was a huge need within the rural northern Uganda community for a clinic to treat the local residents. Kristina Health Center provides primary medical care including triage and appropriate treatment, disease testing, inoculation, medication dispensing and education. The most common illnesses are malaria, typhoid, cough and flu, pneumonia and other serious conditions including internal organ issues requiring referral to Lira Regional Hospital.

As she began her tenure as Membership Chair, Donna Crocker pictured us on a Rotary Member Ship: Pas- sengers of all backgrounds sharing revolutionary ideas, culinary delights and camaraderie docking just to do good deeds and take on new passengers.

Turning her vision into reality, Donna placed tiny figures, representing each member of our club, on the ship. At new member orientations, the new members placed their “mini-me’s” wherever they wanted on the ship, which was adorned with Golden Jubilee signage, Rotary pins, photos of officers and a smoke-stack of “energy spent” on Rotary projects.

Cambria Rotary members always say, “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t Rotary!”

Rotary Year Round Up

This past October the Rotary Club of China Lake was recognized with a ‘ShelterBox Hero Bronze’ award for their donation of $2,000 to ShelterBox international.

Established in the year 2000, ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and other aid items to people worldwide who have lost their homes as the result of a disaster or conflict.  Each easily transportable “shelter” box contains a tent, tools, and cooking gear to support a family in their time of need.  This was a new project for China Lake’s International Directorate, and was sufficient to fund two such boxes.

The Centro Medico Rotario de Margarita (CMRM) is a Health Foundation created and directed since 1996 by the ROTARY CLUB MANEIRO, Rotary District 4370, Margarita Island, Venezuela to provide quality health care at cost for low income people in the island of Margarita and to help prevent pathological diseases by utilizing an intense patient educational program and periodic screenings.  To continue providing this important service and expand capacity, CMRM needed to replace old equipment, acquire new equipment, and increase the stock of medical supplies.

The Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise partnered with the Rotary Club Maneiro on Global Grant 2118572 to provide the needed equipment and supplies. The Global Grant was supported by six clubs in District 5240.  Supplies were purchased in the United States and shipped to Margarita Island.

Covid restrictions limited Rotary Club of Ojai’s usual in-person involvement with youth while it dramatically increased basic needs among babies and young people in the Ojai Valley.  Rotary Club of Ojai partnered with community organizations to meet some of those needs, utilizing D5240 district grants to double their relief efforts.

As a result of on-going COVID stressors, low-income families in Ojai and surrounding towns faced unprecedented need for free diapers and wipes.  Secure Beginnings, a non-profit organization in the Ojai Valley that seeks to nurture healthy relationships for families with children 0-5, operates a Diaper Bank in Ojai twice a month.   Pre-Covid, their Diaper Bank served 13 families a month.  Now it provides diapers to over 400 babies a month. Rotary Club of Ojai helped meet this dramatic increase in need by donating $2000 for baby wipes, as well as Rotarian volunteers to help staff at the Diaper Bank twice a month during the spring.

Debra Weaver and Patty Evans from the Rotary Club of Goleta joined forces with Annie Vu (President), Taylor DeVries (Social Media), and Nathan Bero (Secretary) from the Santa Barbara Rotaract Club to create lovely flower arrangements the for the Dream Foundation’s Flower Empower Program!

We arrived at 8 am and suited up a crash course in flower arrangements. The Rotaract team has been supporting the Dream Foundation in this way for a while, so their bouquets were quite tremendous! Together, we made several spring bouquets that were whisked away by another set of volunteers to bring cheer to members of our community.

Join us for Spring Fling! One of the best runs you'll participate in! Our scenic course in picturesque Fillmore takes all participants alongside the wild Sespe River with beautiful mountain views. The 10k runners will enjoy running by avocado orchards on one side and lemon orchards on the other. Spring Fling costumes are encouraged!

After the run, grab a snack, relax and enjoy the sounds of our local DJ. Bring the kids for the Bounce House located at the Finish Line. There will be plenty of awards and raffle prizes for a great day of fun!

After more than two decades of hosting a successful crab feed fund raiser, the Rotary Club of Paso Robles Sunrise is switching gears! Our first annual ‘Derby Day Wine Fest at Windfall Farms’ wine tasting event will be held on Saturday May 7, 2022, from 1:00 to 5:00 at the Windfall Farms foaling barn located at 4710 Flying Paster Lane, Paso Robles.

The event will be limited to thirty-six Central Coast wineries where they will showcase their most favorite wines.

Community Center on Monday, April 25 from 5pm to 8pm. Last held in January 2020, the dinner’s return was delayed by the pandemic and renovations to the Center’s kitchen. The event had been held every year since 1971 when Mike Loza, the founder of El Tecolote Restaurant, had the idea for a Mexican dinner fundraiser for local youth programs.

Admission includes an enchilada dinner, chips and salsa bar, mariachis, opportunity drawings and piñatas for the kids. A bar serving margaritas, beer and wine is also available. A “Grab and Go” drive thru will also serve dinners.

The collaboration between the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks and the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metropolitan over the past 14 years has resulted in millions of Global Grant dollars given to support many of Rotary’s Areas of Focus.

The most recent partnership involving the two clubs not only involved Thousand Oaks but many other clubs throughout District 5240.  When the stories of Covid hitting India so hard and people having limited access to life saving oxygen emerged, our clubs (with the support of PDG Deb Linden) jumped at the opportunity to create a Global Grant to provide funding for oxygen generation systems to be used by two hospitals in Calcutta, India.

Rotary de Tolosa and Rotary Passport Clubs joined forces on February 5 to plant 15 live oak trees in the Terrace Hill Open Space in the City of San Luis Obispo. Rotary de Tolosa started the tree planting initiative to beautify open spaces, boost community enjoyment, and capture carbon.

Rotary de Tolosa seeks opportunities to work with additional Rotary Clubs and community partners to plant 100 trees per year for 10 years. At maturity the trees will have converted over 3200 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere to living carbon. Thus far, we’ve planted a total of 140 trees.

While we are constantly bombarded with news about violence and conflicts around the world, Cambria Rotary’s Peace Builders committee saw an opportunity to promote peace right here in our community. Several years ago, Rotary installed Peace Poles in the Peace Garden at the Vet’s Hall and on the campuses of each of our schools.

The Peace Poles are planted with the Universal Peace Message “May Peace Prevail on Earth”. The time seemed right for finding a way to promote peace right here at home once again. It was decided to approach the local school district to see how the students might participate in a Pickets for Peace Project.

Yeeee – Haaaw! Join the San Luis Obispo Rotary Club at their annual Spaghetti-Western Fundraiser Saturday, May 7th 2022 at the SLO Veteran's Hall from 5 PM - 8 PM.

Join us for this family friendly event - Enjoy Cafe Roma Pasta, Top Sirloin BBQ, Wine & Beer, Cal Poly Country Line Dancing, Western Movies, Sweet Shoppe & Cake Walk, Carnival Games for the kiddos, and an AMAZING Silent Auction.

Silent Auction items include… local staycations & other vacation packages, TONS of local dining gift cards & wine, Fishing Trip, handcrafted jewelry & arts, spa packages, photography, golf packages at several area golf courses including the San Luis Obispo Country Club, and much, much more!

Today about 30 Rotary de Tolosans and family members brought their shovels, trowels, knee pads and gloves to plant 40 live oak tree seedlings at the South Hills Hiking Trailhead (intersection of Exposition and Woodbridge in SLO).

This event starts the Climate Action Committee’s plan to plant 1000 trees over the next 10 years in support of SLO’s desire to plant 10,000 new trees by 2035.

Interested in the next Oak Tree Planting, or in finding out more about Rotary de Tolosa? Email mary@verdinmarketing.com!

Community service is a driving force behind the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. This past Sunday our members were out at Transitions - Mental Health Association Growing Grounds Nursery, helping them maintain their facility that helps support so many others.

For over 35 years Growing Grounds Farm & Nursery has offered a supportive and empathetic environment for personal growth, recovery, and the acquisition of soft job skills for individuals with mental illness.

The Nursery is a wholesale business growing succulents, trees, and Mediterranean climate zone perennials including California native plants and the funds raised here are used to support the Growing Grounds social enterprise mission. For more information: https://www.t-mha.org/program-details.php?id=13

The Rotary Club of Goleta is volunteering with the City of Goleta as part of the City’s Beautify Goleta campaign.  On Saturday, March 26^th, the City hosted the first Beautify Goleta event at multiple locations around town.  Close to 20 Club members participated, picking up trash and showing support for our community.  Club and community members cleaning up the Old Town area of Goleta were treated to a BBQ lunch courtesy of Community West Bank.   The City of Goleta will be hosting additional Beautify Goleta events throughout the year.  For more information on Beautify Goleta:  https://cityofgoleta.org/beautifygoleta

For more information about this event, contact Frances Gilliland, PR Chair, Rotary Club of Goleta,  FranEG@msn.com or (805) 705-1686

On a beautiful Ojai evening, fireside fun and fellowship were recently on tap for new Rotary Club of Ojai members, pictured here from right to left, Kevin Davis, Fern Barishman, Sean McDermott, President Betsy Watson, Renee Halbrook and club membership co-chair Greg Webster (not pictured, new member Dominic Peno and membership co-chair Cheree Edwards).

Currently at 67 members, RC Ojai has inducted five new members this Rotary year with several more in the “pipeline” for membership in the coming month.

The Rotary Club of Taft started a tradition in 2006 of donating a dictionary to every local 3rd grade student in our area.  We have a total of 8 schools that we serve.  Each year we donate around 350 books…..which means we have donated approximately 5,600 dictionaries during the life of this project!! 

We involve our entire club in this project by putting stickers of the 4-Way Test on the inside cover of each dictionary and distributing the books to each school.  When we donate the dictionaries, we put on a mini assembly explaining what our club does for the community and going over the 4-Way Test.  The kids have fun learning about words from our motto and it is a joy seeing their faces light up!

The Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks worked with the 5240 Rotary Next Generation Club in sending school supplies to the island of Anguilla, east of Puerto Rico, which has been impacted by natural disasters and COVID. The children of Anguilla were in need of school supplies. We helped by purchasing school supplies and promoting the project. 5240 Rotary Next Generation Club, who deserves most of the credit, raised a total of $4,000 in supplies including computers, laminators, backpacks, calculators, etc. Thank you to President James Hilser and the members of Rotary Next Generation Club for this project.

As we emerge from a difficult time in history, education has changed significantly. I wanted to recognize and congratulate Jimmy Cantillon, of the Camarillo Morning Club, for creating a program that enriches high school students in areas that the typical classes don’t offer.

Jimmy and his brother, Kevin are both passionate about education, and have created a program for high school students that bridges the gap in areas that kids are currently missing out on.

Nothing brings a smile like watching joyful children playing! Active play develops bodies and minds. But many children in slum areas in India do not have safe places to play, and this problem was heightened as Covid closed schools.

Since 2016, the Rotary Club of Ojai has had a close relationship with Prashanti International School (PIS) for low-income children in Puri, India. We completed several Club and District Grants plus a Global Grant in partnership with Rotary Club Srikshetra, Puri, funding drinking water and septic systems, computers, boundary walls, gates, restrooms, classroom furnishings, teacher training, etc. When the need for a safe playground at PIS became apparent, we jumped at the idea.

The nation is in the midst of a blood shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic, impacting the supply at San Luis Obispo County hospitals where patients depend on blood donated from community members. Hospitals receive blood from Vitalant, formerly United Blood Services, and give it to patients every day—not only for emergencies but also as part of cancer therapy, surgery, and treatment for burns or blood disorders. Vitalant has seen a 10% decline in Central Coast donors in the past 12 months compared to the year before. There were 58,000 fewer individuals who gave blood in 2021 compared with 2020.

The Rotary Club of Cambria is proud to sponsor the Coast Union Interact Club and watch these students take action to make a difference each year. They plan various fundraising activities so they can raise money to donate to causes the club members select.

In previous years, the club has donated to such causes as high school scholarships, Camp Ocean Pines, HART, Feeding America, Doctors Without Borders, St. Jude’s, Rotary’s Neighbors Feeding Neighbors and FFRP.

Bakersfield East Rotary participates in many community service projects. One of those projects is the Jamison Center located in Bakersfield California. This agency, supported by Kern County Human Services, provides temporary housing and care for children from neglectful and abusive home environments. They are housed, fed and able to live at the center until a qualified family member can take them home. This agency has saved many children throughout the years. The good work done by this agency is heart-touching.

At age 72 most men think of perfecting their golf swing or cruising or traveling to exotic destinations.  Not Art Fumerton. We Rotarians in Rotary Clubs of Santa Barbara North, Santa Barbara Sunrise, and Carpinteria have an incredible program collaboration with the Volcanes Education Project in Santa Barbara Sister City Puerto Vallarta. It is built and operated by an amazing Rotarian, Art Fumerton.

Art and his wife, Mayra, moved to Puerto Vallarta from California in 1994.  Art became involved with the International Friendship Club and the School of Champions providing English and computer programs to underprivileged children in areas surrounding Puerto Vallarta.  At one location, the Magisterio (former dump), they provided a hot breakfast and lunch to 250 children.  But like all  noble endeavors, funding became scarce and the program came to an end.  However, two sponsors continued their support - Cafe Roma and The Hard Rock Hotel.

High School is always a difficult coming of age time for any student, especially someone who questions what career pathway might be appropriate for them to pursue given their interests, talents and abilities.  The Conejo Unified School District Career Technical Education department might have made this journey slightly easier for some students with a new website that went live in December 2021.

About 12 Rotarians from Bakersfield Breakfast helped to “ring the bell” for Salvation Army at the local Hobby Lobby store.  We did this on a very cold December day (12/17) over a four hour period, engaging shoppers and promoting both Salvation Army and Rotary in general … helping to raise funds during a time when Salvation Army was short handed for bell ringers.

The Rotary Clubs of Ventura South, Ventura, and Ventura East collaborated with other service organizations for the Rise Against Hunger Guatemala Project.  They packed 10,000 meals in 90 minutes destined for Guatemala even though they had to move inside when it started drizzling!

The Rotary Clubs of Ventura South, Ventura, and Ventura East collaborated with other service organizations for the Rise Against Hunger Guatemala Project.  They packed 10,000 meals in 90 minutes destined for Guatemala even though they had to move inside when it started drizzling!

Look at all the individual seeds!!  Santa Maria Noon Rotary sent 6 decorators down to the Phoenix warehouse near Pasadena.  They found that the “Glue Man” was a very popular guy.  He dispensed with several specific types of glue for specific jobs.  At the end of the shift, Mr. Glue Man was pretty darn tired.

Rotary Club Bakersfield Twilight — Every other meeting of our club, we have either a “vocational moment” or a brief “two truths and a lie” presentation focused on one of our members.  The objective is to get to know most of our membership. We are an age-diversified club with new, young, veteran and seasoned members, each with a story to tell. This year we are making a cooperative effort to develop our understanding of our newly found friends through attention to the Rotary objectives and the Vocational Avenue of Service.

The evening of December 18th, our club continued the tradition of delivering gifts of toys and clothing donated by club members to 45 children in San Simeon. Club members “adopted” a child (or children) and purchased and wrapped items that child asks for in the letter to Santa.

In addition, one of our secret Santa’s (who prefers to remain nameless) donated a pair of shoes for each child. San Simeon businesses and individual donors provided soccer balls and sweaters as well as household items and gift cards for each family. Some of the families were so overwhelmed they insisted on inviting the Rotarians delivering the gifts to come inside to see their Nativity Scenes and Posadas and then entertained us by singing Christmas Carols. What a great way to end 2021!

On the afternoon of December 18, we continued the celebration of our 50th Anniversary by burying a time capsule which included photos, a club roster, a Rotarian Magazine, a Peace Quote and a Rotary mask (Covid) among other things.

Thanks to the Cambria Historical Society, we were able to bury the capsule next to the town clock that our club donated to the town and placed on the museum property back in 2010. There was champagne, nibbles, camaraderie, some short speeches and lots of cheers. What more could you want on a sunny Saturday in December?

At a meeting of the Rotary Club of Cambria in early October, our Polio Plus Chair, Julie Jenkins reminded us that October 24th was World Polio Day and that RI was encouraging clubs to hold challenges from October 24 to November 24 to both create awareness of and raise money for Polio.

Our own “Rotarian Extraordinaire”, Otis Archie quickly volunteered to do “Push-ups for Polio”. In three weeks, at a buck each, the senior-citizen & stroke survivor’s athletics amassed $2,821 in donations from club members that will pay for an amazing 4,702 vaccinations!

Photo shows Polio Plus Chair, Julie Jenkins, counting some of Otis Archie’s pushups at a recent meeting.

During this holiday season the Rotary Club of Nipomo was able to collaborate with several other service clubs in our area to provide service to our community.

On November 22 the entire community came together to provide a free Thanksgiving dinner to all Nipomo residents. Due to Covid this was our second year in a row to offer a drive-up meal but we still managed to serve 1000 dinners. Our club responsibility was to cook and carve the turkeys.

Kern County Rotaract, in collaboration with the Bakersfield Kern Regional Homeless Center, partnered with the Bakersfield East Rotary Club and the Twilight Rotary Club of Bakersfield in raising funds for and acquiring warm clothing to benefit the homeless population.  The service project was titled “Help Warm Those in Need”.    

The donated items were collected by the participating clubs over the course of a month and a half, beginning in mid-November to late December, along with financial contributions from both Rotary clubs. 

Monte Vista Elementary School teacher Allison Heiduk has received the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara’s Teacher Recognition Award for the 2021 fall quarter. Heiduk, who teaches third-grade, was presented with a plaque and $1,000 by the Rotary Club on Oct. 29.

"We celebrate Ms. Heiduk's continued dedication and commitment to providing meaningful engagement and learning experiences for her students and serving as an educational leader," said County Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido, whose office coordinates the recognition with the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara. "The Rotary Club's recognition program underscores the value our community places on high-quality education," she said. “Thank you to the Rotary Club for supporting teachers and our schools."

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise provided funding for musical instruments for the children of Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. The municipality will maintain a music school where children, adolescents, and youth from the city can learn to play music. The city has instructors in place, a physical location, and some basic instruments, but they lack a larger variety of instruments to be able to develop the music training.

The grant funded the purchase of the following musical instruments and supplies: 18 guitars (15 clasica and 3 electroacoustic), 1 bass guitar, 19 guitar bags, 1 guitar strap, 2 cables, 12 classical guitar pedistals, 4 keyboards, 4 keyboard adapters, 4 keyboard pedestals, 4 keyboard bags, 1 bongo, 1 pedestal for bongo, and 1 Peruvian percussion box.

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise presented the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper with a $3,500 grant for their Youth Environmental Science Education Program. Students from two classrooms from Harding Elementary School will participate in the program. Once the students complete this program they are taken on an educational kayak paddle in the harbor. Channelkeeper recognizes that today’s youth are the decision makers of tomorrow and that their environmental ethics are critical to our planet’s future. Photo: Diana Washburn, Community Service Committee Member, with Penny Owens, Channelkeeper Education & Community Outreach Director.

Michael Baker, President and CEO of the United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County, attended the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise’s recent meeting to thank members for their support of the Global Grant to operate a one-week camp, called Rotary Peacetime Adventures at Camp Whittier. The grant, developed and written by members Janet Napier and Luz Maria Ortiz Smith, with funding provided by District Designated Funds from two Rotary districts in South Korea, one in Mexico and our own district 5240, as well as $5,000 cash from the Sunrise Club and $2,500 from the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara, provided $47,500 to operate a five day camp for 62 children between the ages of 8 and 13 years old. Because of the coronavirus, it was unclear when the camp would be able to take place but, with increased vaccination rates and an easing of the rate of COVID, the camp was held August 3-7, 2021. 

On Oct. 19, 1920, the Rotary Club of Oxnard held its first meeting.  Its minutes show that over 20 people were in attendance. However, it wasn’t until December of that year that the club received its charter from the Rotary District Governor and became an official member of Rotary International.

The Rotary Club of Oxnard celebrated its 100th year of support of area children and its role shaping community leaders at a luncheon earlier this month. 

After cancelling last year due to Covid, the Rotary Club of Nipomo was able to resume our major annual fundraiser, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. With participation from two other local organizations, Nipomo AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and LMUSD (Lucia Mar Unifies School District) Robotics Teams, we had our most successful event yet. After the final tally was in we were able to provide checks of $9,000 to each of our partnering organizations.

The NextGen Rotary Club of 5240 has announced its Charter celebration will take place on December 4th at 5:30 pm.  The last time our district had a new charter was in 2016.  NextGen has just completed their first fundraiser to support Rotary’s newest Area of Focus - Protecting the Environment.

Club President James Hilser is extending an invitation to Rotarians in the District to attend the charter celebration at the Palm Garden Hotel in Thousand Oaks.

On Friday, June 4th our Rotary Club gathered both in person and via Zoom to celebrate our 50th Anniversary!  We were pleased to have Past District Governor Deb Linden attend via Zoom and say a few words about this special event.

The Rotary Club of Bakersfield East served up over 200lbs of tri tip that went into over 300 dinners served for their fundraiser Saturday night. Proceeds benefited several organizations including the Ronald McDonald House of Bakersfield, Valley Fever Americas Foundation, and Bakersfield East Rotary Foundation.

This past week, DGE Dana Moldovan visited a Global Grant project she helped develop in Romania. The project, called Healing Little Hearts, provides life-saving heart surgery for infants and children. The project was developed by Rotary Clubs in Romania and USA and with two foundations, Gift of Life International based in USA and Save a Child’s Heart based in Israel.