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More Rotary Bang for Bucks

by David Avirom

The Pico Rivera Rotary Club has a suggestion for helping the community and getting your club some valuable public relations exposure at the same time.  As in many communities, the American Cancer Society holds a Relay for Life in Pico Rivera.  For those who don’t know, participants at a Relay for Life form teams and find sponsors who donate to the American Cancer Society. Each team rotates members for 24 hours to walk around a track. 

This year Pico Rivera Rotary sponsored a Relay team at the $1,000 level.  Because of the sponsorship level, the Rotary emblem and Pico Rivera’s club name were displayed on the main page of the Relay for Life website (see screen shot).  Since there were only 4 sponsors at the $1,000 level, the Rotary emblem was on screen 25% of the time as the page cycled through the 4 major sponsors: Rotary, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, and Kirkorian Theaters.  Every person who went to the website, including all the team captains checking on donation levels, all those interested in donating or registering for the relay, and all other looky-loos, saw the Rotary emblem and our club name. 

We hope that the service-minded people who visited the site will have seen the Rotary logo and will inquire about membership.  The additional benefits were that we reinforced the knowledge that the Pico Rivera Rotary Club is an active sponsor of events benefiting the community and that we enjoy the fellowship of working together on a community service project.  Moreover, on the day of the event there were 3 signs placed around the track announcing our sponsorship, as well as hundreds of participants receiving T-shirts emblazoned with our logo.  (See photo of our member Nena Munguia holding the logo shirt over one of the signs.)

But here is the really sweet part.  The actual cost to the club could be ZERO.  We asked our club members to direct Relay donations that they were making anyway through the club and we used those funds to pay for the sponsorship.  All the money still went to the American Cancer Society and we were able to piggy-back our sponsorship to reap additional PR for Rotary and our club.

South Pasadena Rotarian helps Flying Samaritans Build a Roof for a Clinic in Baja California, Mexico

by Sara Munshin

High over the barren landscape of Baja California, Mexico, a caravan of small propeller-driven aircraft ride thermal drafts; a pale brown strip by a pueblo beckons and they prepare to land. They descend, and within minutes are on the ground; the crew rapidly unloads supplies and gear and walks into the village. The sun scorches the ground and waves of heat shimmer on the road. The local people smile in greeting as these Flying “Sams” enter the clinic. Here, at the village of Jesus Maria, the poor and infirm have waited a month for this visit. Some have walked, others have ridden; some have had to come from scores of miles away. Rapidly the rooms fill and everyone gets to work. A pharmacy opens up; dentists begin delving into open mouths while next door an optometrist checks the locals’ eyes. The chiropractors begin adjusting in the next room and a few feet away the physicians have begun to examine and treat other patients. A gentle hum of energy flows through the clinic, as it does every month, when these Samaritinos from El Norte arrive.

For over 25 years the Flying Samaritans have been flying down to Mexico to offer help. A non-profit, nonsectarian philanthropic organization, it began quite by fluke, when a plane flying north from La Palmilla en route to San Diego ran into a dust storm in 1961 and was forced to land in El Rosario. One of the passengers was ill, but could not get treatment: the local hospital was abandoned, without supplies, equipment or staff. The village was impoverished and the nearest help was miles away. The Norteamericanos, Aileen Sanders and Polly Ross, were deeply touched by the difficult lives of the local Mexicans and returned for Christmas with supplies and gifts. Soon, monthly visits began and others volunteered their help: doctors, nurses, optometrists, carpenters, and plumbers, among many others. In 1962 the Flying Samaritans was formally incorporated as a non-profit organization. It wasn’t long before the Flying Samaritans had clinics in other villages in Baja California.

Now there are 12 chapters with 22 clinics operating in Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. The clinic in Jesus Maria is run by the Orange County chapter. The Orange County chapter was founded in 1977, by Gordon Gray, a former Marine Corps pilot. The clinic in Jesus Maria sees an average of 100 patients every clinic day.

The Flying Sams are all volunteers, with big hearts and bigger enthusiasm, keen to give service. Pilots, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, translators and doctors all contribute equally. There are others back in the States, who, though invisible, make invaluable contributions to keeping the organization running and cohesive. The clinics, which occur every month, last a weekend. In any weekend, hundreds of patients may be seen. In some cases, these clinics are the only medical care in a 200-mile radius. Each chapter runs its own clinics, so there is consistency and a relationship with the communities served. This continuity adds great depth to the relationship between the local population and the Samaritans.

The South Pasadena Rotary club has a special relationship with the Orange County chapter of the Flying Samaritans. In the fall of 2005, after a presentation at our club by one of the Flying “Sams,” we decided to hold a fall-fund raiser to support their work. That Chili Cook Off brought in sufficient funds to help cover the building of a 2100 square foot clinic in Jesus Maria on land donated by the village. It took a great deal of persistence on the part of all concerned, but the efforts paid off this past April. South Pasadena Rotarian, Tom Lake, who is a contractor, his daughter Kelly and her husband Cameron Blanchard, both of whom are also carpenters, were flown, along with some supplies, to Baja California in two of the Flying Sam’s planes. They worked along with other skilled volunteers who were flown in and members of the community from April 21-25, and at the end of that time, the roof of the clinic was completed!

An unexpected potential benefit to the community was the presence of Kelly Blanchard, Tom Lake’s daughter, who clearly could hold her own as a carpenter. The females in the village were quite taken with her presence and abilities.

As Tom Lake commented: “When you get a group of like-minded people together, it doesn’t matter where they are from, you can accomplish anything.” This project truly exemplifies the spirit of Rotary.

Does Rotary Make a Difference? You Decide

Submitted by Ted Jones

Letter of thanks:

Dear Rotary of Montebello in care of Mr. Ted Jones,

What a blessing your organization has been to me and my family.  The day you knocked on my door and asked if we wanted an Easter Basket, you filled a great need I had.  Let me explain: 

In April 2009, the doctors said  I was in stage I Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  As of June 2009, it had become stage IV.  By November 2009, the doctors have declared the issue “resolved.”  I am cancer free and alive.  That alone is priceless, yet the financial cost of 7 short months fighting cancer has caused a burden on me and my family. 

The day you arrived at my door, I had just recieved my paycheck and found it had been docked about a $1000.00 because I recently had taken some necessity leave from work.  I know God had healed me and I was trusting Him to help me make it through the month of April.  I was very upset.  I was trying to decide how to allocate the money I did have.  Did I buy food or pay bills.  That is when you and the Rotary stepped in.

You knocked on my door and filled my home with food.  It was not just any type of food but high quality, healthy, and useful products of FOOD.  As a person in remission of only 5 months, it is extremely important I maintain good eating habits and your FOOD basket provided me with a month worth of healthy food for me to eat. Your gift of a food basket allowed me to pay my bills for the month of April because I no longer had to worry about buying food. 

I know you are people of service wanting to make a difference in the community.  I want to assure you.  You made a HUGE difference for me!  You served as the hands of GOD for me and filled a my need.  Thank YOU!

May God Bless each and everyone of you.

Aurora Sosa

PS  Although I’m cancer free, the doctors have continued the intervenious vitamin C, thus the IV poll and bag in the background of the picture.

No Weed Left Behind

by Leigh Auerbach

The Rotary Club of Green Valley recently helped three elderly Henderson residents during the Rotarians at Work (RAW) event that took place on Saturday, April 24, 2010.  They pulled weeds, mowed overgrown yards, and trimmed trees. 

With the wetter than normal spring weather, many residents saw a large increase in the weed populations coming up through their rock areas.  The seniors were grateful to have the helping hands and the company.  Each of the folks is provided meals through the Henderson Meals on Wheels program.  The residents were identified as needing assistance by the Meals on Wheels delivery person.

There were six hardworking club members who volunteered their Saturday for the world-wide RAW event.  They worked their fingers to the bone from 9am to 2pm and loved every minute of it...almost.

The Rotarians all agreed that the best part of the day was visiting with the wonderfully gracious senior residents!

Las Vegas West Cleans Up Red Rock Canyon

by Bernard Hunt

It’s an almost-hidden jewel of the heavily tourist-infected Las Vegas Valley. Most of the 35 million global visitors who run on the wheel of fortune in the gambling capital of District 5300 don’t even pass anywhere near Red Rock Canyon.

That’s a good thing, because it likely would make more work for members and friends of the Rotary Club of Las Vegas West.

Several times a year, members of the club troop out to the National Conservation Area, which is right in their backyard, to pick up trash left behind by mindless and heedless visitors to the beauty spot.

For the last two years, the effort has been part of Rotarians at Work Day, the international hands-on project that teams Rotarians around the work to do their bit in a local project on the same day – the last Saturday in April.

Three District 5300 clubs took part this year in the global effort this year – at least, according to the Rotarians at Work website, which lists the projects.

The three projects were the Red Rock cleanup by Las Vegas West; new bookshelves and books for a local community center by the Rotary Club of Industry Hills; and a Tom Sawyer-like fence painting effort by the Rotary Club of Upland.

Other district clubs participated in projects that they have not reported to the Rotarians at Work site.

Spies tell us that the Las Vegas Fremont club was up to something, but they have hidden their light under a bushel. Good thing they didn’t leave that bushel at Red Rock Canyon. Las Vegas West Rotarians might have cleaned it up.

Rotarian Ken Cox was in charge of the Red Rock Canyon effort.

He also served as chef for barbequed brats to feed the troops hungry after four hours of stooping, collecting and disposing of trash from the pathways and byways at the Willow Springs picnic area in the canyon.

Trash collectors observed that they didn’t have as much work to do as in past years because park visitors appeared to have left less behind them.

About 20 members, spouses and friends of the Las Vegas West Rotary Club were on hand for the work – and the brats.

Photo by Bernard Hunt

A New Home in Tecate, Mexico

by Steven Reiter, Las Vegas Fremont Club International Chair, photos: Linda Bertuzzi  

The trip to Tecate, Mexico on May 15, 2010, by LV Fremont Rotarians was far more than just building a new home!  For Rotarians Steve Reiter, Past President Drew Levy & wife Debbie, Pres Elect Linda Bertuzzi, Rob Goldstein, Robin Smith and twin brother Robert, it was an opportunity to be a part of a family’s long journey to a brighter future.

In partnership with Corazon, a California non-profit, Rotary District 5300 raised funds and provided over 100 volunteers to build THREE homes in one day.  Corazon’s “Comunidad” program is not a handout to the poor.  The families go through a long selection process after being nominated by neighbors or the Mayor of their village.  Once selected, the family must complete 2000 hours of community service, working alongside their neighbors to make their Village a better place to live.  The families also complete mandatory counseling classes, including domestic violence prevention.  The children MUST remain in school, and maintain at least a C average.  The majority of the men and women in the program have less than a 9th grade education due to lack of family resources to pay for high school.  Through Corazon’s program, part of the funds raised for the home-build includes scholarships for the minor children to complete high school.  And lastly, there is job skill training for the adults, if needed.

Upon arrival by the 35-40 volunteers to the build site, we found the foundation, which had been completed 6 weeks prior to our arrival, and basic building supplies stacked nearby.  The family, as part of their community service, is required to build the foundation with the aid of other community laborers, some also working towards their own home.  The site was primitive by most standards.  No running water, a shack housing a lone commode with a red-tasseled curtain for privacy, and only a gas generator for power.

It seemed a bit like organized chaos for the first hour or so - each volunteer, many of them first-timers, finding their “niche” in the building process.  Steve Reiter manned the only power tool station, carefully measuring & cutting the wood for assembly of the frame, roof trusses & siding.  Robin Smith created a beautiful tiled kitchen prep counter, from start to finish.   There is no pre-fabrication for any part of the house.  The home is built stick by stick, nail by nail, hand in hand with volunteers from Corazon & District 5300.   Drew, Debbie, Rob, Robert & Linda helped with painting, building the walls & trusses, carrying & placing the walls, and ultimately, Rob, Drew & Robin were on the roof nailing each shingle into place. 

The parents, Alejandro & Irma, along with their 3 teen daughters, were required to prepare a lunch for the volunteers.  Handmade corn tortillas, chicken tamales, salsas, frijoles, arroz, and a cactus salad were served along side their traditional beverages.  It was incredible!!!!

At the end of the “build” a very appreciative family stood by and accepted the keys to their new home - the end of a long journey to home ownership and the beginning of a new future for their family.

The personal satisfaction of helping a family of 5, not for a day, but a lifetime, cannot be explained but should be experienced.  I wonder what the 3 young ladies will do in their lifetimes because of Rotarians like you & me touching their life.  THANK YOU!