Our Programs

We support various non profit organizations through the Rotary District Grants and Global Grants programs.
We are supporting seven projects in 2022-23.

Audubon's Silverwood Sanctuary
The 785-acre Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary in Lakeside is owned and maintained by San Diego Audubon. Its purpose is to preserve in as complete and natural a state as possible a prime area of coastal chaparral and riparian woodland. It is available for hiking, guided walks, bird watching, passive research, and education. Over 324 native plant species and 124 bird species have been recorded there, as well as numerous reptile and mammal species, including mule deer, bobcat, and raccoon. The Sanctuary has completely recovered from the 2003 Cedar fire. The flora and fauna are abundant and provide an excellent laboratory for studying the natural cycles of chaparral and riparian ecosystems. This crown jewel of San Diego Audubon has approximately five miles of trails for you to explore. Our donation of $1000 will go to partially defraying the cost of a full time caretaker of this unique sanctuary. We have in the past visited Silverwood and will in the future.
 

ECOLIFE Aquaponics III

This ECOLIFE Aquaponics Education Program is a unique design that breaks from the conventional classroom style while addressing community engagement and the serious issues of resource consumption. It immerses students in a world of experiential learning and the wonders of hands-on science. Using aquaponics as an educational tool, educators interactively teach valuable science concepts and inspire students with ideas that can really benefit humanity. The program engages students in sustainable technologies and alternative ways of growing food, and aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards of the K-12 STEM curriculum. Educators at all grade-levels and their students have the opportunity to grow with aquaponics at their school, and learn more about how to create a project that educates future farmers and contributes to the sustainability of our planet.

 

Nature Collective Partnership
The project will engage 200 volunteers in 12 hands-on community restoration experiences during the project timeline. Participants will assist in restoring 25 acres of riparian woodland habitat in the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve to support the federally and state endangered Least Bell's Vireo and the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Activities will include removing invasive species, providing water to growing plants, monitoring flora and fauna, and planting seeds in a native plant nursery. Past agricultural practices and development negatively impacted the acres in need of restoration.
Rotarians of Del Mar-Solana Beach and Solana Beach Eco will be invited and encouraged to attend weekly volunteer experiences, including a private 6-hour team-building event. Protecting our natural resources requires informed and inspired people willing to take action. Engaging Rotarians to be active participants in volunteer experiences will enhance the natural area we all live in and help build a more cohesive, safer, stronger community and increase the social network between communities and neighborhoods.
 

ProduceGood

ProduceGood is a nonprofit founded in 2004 here in San Diego by Nita Kurmins Gilson, Alexandra White & Jerilyn White from the 2009 grassroots operation of Crop Swap started by Nita. Their mission is to build an active and engaged community committed to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate hunger, reclaim and re-purpose waste and promote the health & well being of all.

Through this grant the Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club would support the important work done within the Market Share program of ProduceGood. Particularly to support their project at the Leucadia Farmers Market with operational funds to facilitate the collection and redistribution of the donated produce. We believe ProduceGood operates under the same standards and philosophy as Rotary and is extremely effective in serving our community.

For more information, we invite you to read our stories on service projects done with Produce Good.

 

SD Climate Action Network

San Diego Climate Action Network is a San Diego County non-partisan non-profit that links together people and organizations committed to working on the issue of climate change. SDCAN facilitates resource sharing, coalition building, and public relations to amplify the climate advocacy efforts of its member organizations. Recognizing each organization's unique contributions, it seeks to discover ideal working practices between them, as well as any vital solutions that may be currently unfulfilled by existing efforts.

SDCAN has been successful in creating and maintaining an online calendar of events and a weekly email that is viewed by thousands of people in the county. This effort increases attendance at presentations, educational workshops, group meetings, and service projects that support local impacted communities.
 

Shelter Box USA

Shelter Box USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to deliver humanitarian relief in the form of equipment and materials that bring shelter, warmth and dignity to people made homeless by natural or other disasters worldwide. Shelter Box aid is tailored to a disaster but typically includes a disaster relief tent for a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children's activity pack.

The Shelter Box Vision is of a world in which all people displaced by disasters and humanitarian crises are rapidly provided with emergency shelter and vital aid, which will help rebuild their communities and lives.

To date ShelterBox has officially provided aid to 2,000,000 people across 100 countries.
 

Model UN
Model UN is for high school students to participate in teams of two in a United Nations debate setting. They will draw a country three months in advance of the April 1, 2023 event, learn about it's history, culture and political positions, before presenting those positions in response to two UN Resolutions chosen by the director. It has been on going in our District for 18 years and now has participation from as many as 5 foreign countries.