Local Rotarians from downtown San Diego, Mission Bay, Point Loma, La Jolla and the Golden Triangle will contribute their collective muscle to the inaugural district-wide “Rotarians at Work Day” scheduled for Saturday, April 29. Early that morning, the Rotary motto “Service Above Self” will ascend to a collective new height when hundreds of Rotarians from 60 clubs in San Diego and Imperial counties will participate in a day of community service.
Members of the Mission Bay, Shelter Island and San Diego Downtown Rotary clubs will combine forces with two clubs from Mission Valley to help revitalize a section of the San Diego River, north of Interstate 8 near Morena Boulevard.
Plans for rejuvenating the 51-acre site include clearing debris, planting cottonwood and willow trees, erecting and painting a fence, installing trash receptacles and picnic tables, and remodeling a trail. Rotarians will be working under the direction of Rob Hutsel, executive director of the San Diego River Park Foundation and Don Steele, chair of Friends of Mission Valley Preserve. Supervisor Ron Roberts has provided financial assistance and members of his staff will participate in the work party.
Those who are incapable of performing physical labor will be on-site to supply volunteers with water and refreshments. Halfway through the day, nearby Tio Leo’s restaurant will treat workers to energizing finger foods. High school students from the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program and a local Boy Scout troop will also participate. Marti Emerald of KGTV will be filming the day’s work for her “Come Clean San Diego” promotion.
Mission Bay, Shelter Island and San Diego Downtown clubs are dedicating the entire day to this project, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Point Loma Rotary Club is setting up camp at Correia Middle School, where Point Loma Rotarians and students from the Point Loma High School Interact Group will be weeding and gardening. Because the San Diego Unified School District lacks funds for even modest gardening, roots and overgrown brush need to be cleared so that a new layer of flowers may be planted.
Downtown’s San Diego Rotary Club 33 will tackle 17 different projects on April 29, spanning San Diego County from Santee to Pacific Beach. Club volunteers will also staff two projects in Mexico, one in Tula (approximately 55 miles north of Mexico City) and in Tijuana.
In Tula, San Diego Rotary Club’s Mercy Outreach Surgical Team will be performing surgery on 270 to 350 patients over the span over several days, beginning April 23. The team will end this Rotarian Goodwill mission on Rotarians at Work Day, April 29. San Diegans are partnering with three Rotary Clubs in the Tula area to help with housing, after care, and various logistical details in undertaking this truly international project.
In Tijuana, Rotarians will spend the day painting a new Red Cross-operated ambulance station, an ongoing project of Downtown San Diego Rotary Club 33.
Closer to home, members of San Diego’s largest Rotary club will also be painting at St. Paul’s Senior Center, planting trees at Veterans Village, and assisting with emergency services for women and children at the San Diego Rescue Mission.
The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club is working with Rebuilding Together San Diego to refurbish and repair the home of a needy senior citizen in the City Heights area. Built nearly 100 years ago, the home is in need of plumbing, painting and landscaping. A second team of Rotarians will also travel to Mexico to assist building houses for those in need.
Joining San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary at both work sites are members of its Rotaract Club, a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women ages 18 to 30.
In the La Jolla area, which features four Rotary Groups, Torrey Pines Rotary will coordinate the “cool trees” planting project in conjunction with the City Energy Conservation Program at Mesa Verde Middle School.
The Rotary Club of La Jolla is hosting a one-day Leadership Academy at La Jolla Presbyterian Church featuring headliner Ken Blanchard, renowned corporate trainer and author of the “One Minute Manager.” The Leadership Academy is an opportunity for 60 inner-city, at-risk students ages 11 to 14 from Nativity Prep Academy in Logan Heights to participate in a day of leadership training.
“We’re excited that Ken will play such an integral role in the day,” said Bill Burch, Rotarian event chair. “Ken’s commitment, along with that of the Rotarians and our afternoon speaker, Michael Brunker, executive director of the Jackie Robinson YMCA, will truly make this a memorable day for the students. Our goal is to provide these students with real world leadership and communication skills that will help them interact with family, friends and teachers, and serve them well in their futures.”
Lillie May Hempstead, working with the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary, will witness an “extreme makeover” of her City Heights home on April 29. Lillie May is a vibrant 74-year-old who has lived in this home for 46 years, where she raised eight children. Rotarians will work alongside Rebuilding San Diego to paint the exterior of the house and five rooms inside. They will also paint the surrounding fence and garage, freshen up the landscaping and install new cabinets and drawers.
The La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club will head to San Pasqual Academy to refurbish one of the auxiliary houses on the Academy property. Rotarians will paint, do plumbing and electrical work and perform basic carpentry. The club is currently accepting furniture donations to make these houses habitable for high school graduates who are no longer eligible to live in the dorms. The young adults are attending college and working, but need a transitional place to live in order to become independent.
Rotarians At Work Day is the brainchild of Rotary 2005-’06 District Governor Bob Watson, whose vision is to engage every member of all 60 clubs in San Diego and Imperial counties in hands-on community service. This effort encompasses approximately 3,700 Rotarians from clubs as far south as San Ysidro, as far north as Camp Pendleton and from Mission Bay east to Brawley.
“Partnering with a variety of charities, city and community organizations, including Baja Rotary, thousands of District 5340 Rotarians, high school-aged Interactors and college-level Rotaractors will work to aid and improve our neighborhoods and the lives of our neighbors,” Watson explained. “Each of the projects is designed to beautify and improve our community.”
“This is an opportunity to shake hands across the border, and to realize we are not separate groups but of the same goal, to help those around us,” said Fernando Favela, governor of Baja Rotary’s district 4100, speaking about the partnership of Rotarians at Work Day in the United States and Rotarians Trabajando, its Mexican counterpart. Approximately 1,800 Rotarians in four states ” Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora and Sinoloa ” will be participating on April 29.
This international focus will be carried further abroad by District 5340 Group Study Exchange teams that will be in West and East Africa, who also will take part in service day.
Rotarians at Work Day 2006 will be the first year an effort of this magnitude is launched, but District Governor Watson said he hopes it becomes an annual event.
“Like the trees that will be planted all over San Diego county on April 29, 2006, the Rotarians at Work tradition is expected to grow,” Watson said. “The lasting effects will continue within the Rotary tradition for years to come, as future district governors-elect have already agreed to carry on the torch of this service day annually.”
Founded in 1905, Rotary International is dedicated to “Service Above Self.” For membership information, please call District membership chair Mary Griffin, (619) 437-7131, or e-mail her at [email protected]. For more information about Rotarians at Work Day 2006, call Rotarians at Work chair Jim Roth, (858) 592-6250 or e-mail [email protected].