By Larry Barnett
The Sonoma Valley Rotary has been busy, very busy. During the past six months, Charles Goodwin, (pictured) President of the club reports, the service club has:
- Raised $25,000 for the volunteer firefighters to help fund the July 4th fireworks.
- Partnered with the Community Center and the other two Rotary Clubs in town to put on two benefit performances of “Vincent” and raised $23,000 for the Sam Morphy Family room, a community meeting room at the center.
- Supported the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program, which provides books for kids up to five years old by sending them each a book a month. The State of California covers one-half the cost of each book.The club plans to fund the program for at least the next two years. So far, about 16 percent of the eligible kids have signed up.
- Awarded seventeen grants in their fall grants cycle for $49,500 to various community organizations with a broad range of needs, such as scholarships, bus transportation and helping CarePartners secure a second location for their Memory Cafe program.
- Assisted SOS with their home food delivery program.
- Helped buy turkeys for the free Community Thanksgiving meal.
One hundred percent of the funds the club donates come from their yearly “Luck of the Irish” raffle, which this year will have its drawing on March 15 at their Luck of the Irish Dinner celebration at the Vets Hall. The Grand Prize this year is $10,000. Raffle tickets cost $50 and a ticket for the Dinner costs $75, for a traditional Irish corned beef dinner with all the fixings, including a bag-piper.
Goodwin notes that the Sonoma Valley Rotary has no paid staff, all volunteers. “In fact, our volunteers pay dues to be Rotarians. Our members just want to make our community a little bit better place.”
Joining Rotary requires being sponsored by a member. Lunch meetings are held weekly on each Wednesday.
Michael Heffler, Communications Director for the club, a relatively new member, has personal interest in environmental issues. He’s involved in the club’s new gleaning project, gathering produce and fruit from farms and homes that would otherwise go to waste. After learning that one-out-five people in Sonoma County are food insecure, he looked for ways to help. “Gleaning,” he noted, “was not happening. Food was going to waste, so we figured out a way to pick it up and get it to the people who need food.”
The club was involved with restoring the historic orchards at Jack London Park. The trees are still producing and the club has planted new peach trees to repopulate the grove. Last year, over 3.5 tons of fruit was harvested and donated to organizations and food banks who help feed people. Another project Heffler is planning is to equip a location with solar panels and batteries so that it’s available to people whenever they need it, not just during emergencies.
Outside of Sonoma Valley, the club is also making a difference. They’ve helped fund the creation of restrooms in three high schools in western Nepal, and have raised money to help fund construction of an outdoor kitchen, garden and playground at a community center in Teotitlan del Valle, Mexico. They partner with Seeds of Learning, which sends Sonoma Valley High School students abroad to gain experience in other cultures.
The club’s Spring Grant cycle is coming up, also funded by their Luck of the Irish raffle. All this, plus hands-on efforts like picking up trash along Highway 12, cleaning up the Future Farmers of America facility at the High School, plus cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for Pets Lifeline Bar-b-que keeps the club busy. Their contribution to the welfare of the community is enormous.
“It’s not true that members have to pay the club on their birthdays,” Goodwin added.
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