Rotary District 5280 Day of Service: April 6, 2013
Pictured above (left to right): District Governor Lew Bertrand, Hollywood Rotarian & Day of Service Co-Chair Melody St. John, LA5 Rotarian & Day of Service Co-Chair Marjorie Heller, and DGNG D.J. Sun.
Congratulations to the Rotary Day of Service volunteers for a wonderful project!On Saturday, April 6, Rotarians and their guests from 30 Clubs, Interactors from 16 high schools and Rotaractors from 5 Rotaract clubs within District 5280 joined hands and completed the rejuvenation of South Park Recreation Center in South Los Angeles. With great pleasure, Governor Lew Bertrand of District 5280 presented a $7,000 check for South Park summer campership scholarships. All activities demonstrated Rotary’s commitment to our communities, making Greater Los Angeles a better place to live and work.
To read about this successful service event, please click the link below that says "more" and to view more pictures click HERE for the photo album. |
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With help from over 150 Rotarians and 100 Interactors and Rotaractors, the park’s transformation rapidly took shape. As the volunteers cleaned, scraped and painted, raked, repaired, re-built and replaced, each area took on an immeasurably brighter and more cheerful appearance and the park’s community center became a safer and more welcoming environment. Thanks to the volunteers’ energy and concentration, we completed every task set to us, and then some. Special thanks are due to all the crew chiefs who took on extra duties. Special thanks as well to Mark Mariscal, the Pacific Region Superintendent of Operations for the LA City Department of Recreation and Parks, and Parks’ staff. The project would not have been nearly as successful without their assistance. On behalf of the District Governors of Korean Rotary District 3700, District 5280, Senior AG for Community Service of District 5280, DJ Sun and the families who use the park, we thank everyone who participated in the rejuvenation of the South Park Recreation Center. Here is what the volunteers accomplished: ·Baseball infield: move a mountain of red clay dirt to re-cover the infield. Thanks to the sun worshipers who toiled in the sun most of the day to complete the task. ·Baseball bleachers: the Power Tools crew replaced about thirty rotted plank seats and steps while the painting crew re-painted the whole bleacher structure and old & new planks after scraping and sanding away many layers of old and peeling paint. At the end of the day, the bleachers looked like new. ·Weight Room: the repair crew washed away years of dirt, installed a new rubber mat floor and sanitized the equipment. Since much of the weight room equipment was too big to fit through the door, they used their ingenuity to shift the machines from one side of the room to other. The transformation of this space was astonishing. ·Teen Room: the crew washed and cleaned the wall, tables, chairs, computer equipment and removed dirt that had accumulated outside the windows for many years. Members of Power Tools crew replaced termite damaged window frames and 11 plexi-glass windows. When they finished, the sun shone brightly through the newly installed clean windows! ·Exterior of the Community Center: contending with a freshening breeze that made their work much harder, the painting crew succeeded by painting the exterior by spraying and rolling. ·Pool Reception Area: The area got a complete facelift with the cleaning and painting over 100 cubicles. ·Pre-School Room: after the cleaning crew finished, the room was so clean you could eat off the floor; the cubicles gleamed with bright new colors. The refrigerator was almost like new after being thoroughly cleaned by the volunteers. ·Auditorium/Multi-Purpose Room, storage room #1, #2 and #3:Crews deep cleaned the storage areas and organized the stacks and piles of supplies and equipment that filled in the room. This was the most labor-intensive project of all, and at one point, over 35 people were working in the room. The summer campers are never going to run out of art & craft supplies! ·Library: Redondo Beach members and Rotaractors from UCLA worked exclusively on this assignment. They inspected the old books for keeping or discarding and re-stocked the bookshelves with new books. It was voted the most beautiful display area in the center! ·Patio: the crew raked up 5 years of dead leaves (12 giant bags of leaves went to the trash) and installed 60 cement pavers in the dirt area. Their hard work made the patio an inviting space. ·Camper cubbies: 72 cubbies in the auditorium were cleaned, sanded and beautifully varnished. Great job! ·Kitchen: a deep clean was done, and all new kitchen appliances (as well as shelving paper) were installed. The kitchen is so clean that it blinds my eyes! ·Playground areas: all of the playground equipment was cleaned and sanitized; sandy areas were cleared of debris, securing the safety for little ones. · Special recognition to volunteers at theregistration,food, coffee & water stationsandsupply depotand tosecurity personnel, photographers and those on trash duty. They were great! In addition to the “official” event photographers, we recognize that many participants took photos. If you are willing to share, please email the photos to Melody St. John atmelodyrchollywood@gmail.comby April 17 and photos will be uploaded to the album for your viewing pleasure. We are working on a photo journal that will be showed at the District Conference on the first weekend of May. Let me know if you would like to show the photo journal at your club meeting; we will try to make it available to you. Here is the link to the Rotary Day of Service album:https://picasaweb.google.com/103261059307818435180/DayOfServiceApril6th 2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2xv9GZ9JicBg&feat=email
Peace through Service, Co-Chairs, 2013 Rotary Day of Service
Melody St. John
Marjorie Heller |