Club Meeting: January 22, 2025
Editor: Diana Monge
Meeting called to order by President Cathy Calabro
Flag Salute and Invocation by Kim Bish
Introduction of Visiting Guest: The visiting guests were Robin and PhilPalmquist who are both prospective members of Rotary and were introduced by Jim Lisi
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jim Lisi announces that the election for the 2026-2027 President Elect and 2025-2026 Treasurer of the Rotary Club Santa Barbara North will be held on February 5, 2025. The current nominee for President Elect for the year 2026-2027 is Tim Hardy and the nominee for the 2025-2026 Treasuer is Marti Correa de Sa.
A board meeting will be held on 02/05/2025 to redefine club comittees and positions enabling for various community building activies and/or events. The Bylaws of the Rotary Club Santa Barbara North will reflect these changes.
Do you need to update the classifiaction on your Rotary badge, contact Jim Lisi before 2/7/2025 with your updated badge information to get an updated Rotary badge.
It is officially Girl Scout Cookie Season and one of our local Girl Scouts, Unique, will be hosting a Cookie Kick-Off on Sunday February 9th from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm at 21 San Roque Rd. Santa Barbara. There will be lots of cookies and refreshments for purchsase through cash and Venmo. Each box of Girl Scout cookies are $6 each. If you are unable to make it to Unique's Cookie Kick-Off but still want to support Unique, you contact Lindsey to coordinate cookie-drop off or shipping at 805-680-1881.
Direct Relief Headquarters
Santa Barbara, CA
On January 22nd we were given the opportunity to host our meeting at the Hatch Hall auditorium in The Direct Relief Headquarters located in Santa Barbara. A zoom meeting was conducted that connected us with Eduardo Mendoza who currently resides in Mexico City. Eduardo was able to discuss and reflect on the obstacles and variables present within Mexico and how various entities within Direct Relief, such as his position of a country director, is ensuring that the resources that they need are being communicated and addressed, ultimately reflecting Great Relief’s mission to provide aid locally and globally. A tour of the Santa Barbara Direct Relief office was provided where tour members had the privilege of seeing the warehouse that houses medical resources and equipment that get distributed to various communities in need.
Welcoming our New Members
Diana Monge and Jose Gonzalez Perez
Diana and Jose became acquainted with Rotary International through Joe Lanza who connected with Diana and Jose through their mutual friend, Liza Saguto. Liza works at Walgreens Pharmacy as a pharmacist and does humanitarian work in Africa. Liza and Joe were able to connect through their work in establishing central wells in villages within Kenya. Liza was able to share her humanitarian work with Diana who connected with the work given her mother’s upbringing in El Salvador where her mother did not have access to a direct source of clean drinking water. Joe was able to explain Rotary’s role in the water well project and in other global projects, encouraging Diana to invite Jose to attend a Rotary meeting with her. The various opportunities that Rotary offers in relation to service and community building encouraged Diana and Jose to introduce the Rotary Club to UCSB where they are both working to establish a Rotaract Club at the university. Establishing the Rotaract at UCSB will enable for various opportunities in relation to community building, development, and service.
Rotary President Cathy Calabro used her MEGABUCK to share her partnership with other Rotary clubs and districts who collectively supported the Rotary of Montecito’s rescue relief drive that directed resources and funds to individuals that were affected by the LA wildfires.
Emiliano Campobello, a professional artist, used his MEGABUCK to discuss the forty foot long mural he will create at Adam's Elementary which will depict the California Coastline. The students will contribute to the creation of the mural enabling them to recognize how the ocean is an essential part of our environment. Campobello is also an air purification specialist who began his career after the Thomas Fire in 2017 and in 2022 he became commercially-certified with ActivePure. He has supplied several air purifying systems to various members of his community such as friends, family, NGOs, police stations, schools, shelters, restaurants, etc. Emiliano has also provided air purifiers and surface sanitizers to areas affected by the California WildFires. If you would like to know more information about purifers, please contact Emiliano Campobello.
Kim Bish used his MEGABUCK to express how proud he is of his granddaughter in relation to her success and recognition within the medical field. Bish’s granddaughter had a career as a registered nurse who now holds a Physician Assistant credential and title. Bish was able to note the various volunteer opportunities his granddaughter has participated in and was pleased to inform us that she held a position in the medical staff of The United States Presidential Inauguration.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Club Rotary Meeting February 12th at Muligans at noon where we will be celebrating musical educators in Santa Barbara who will be introduced by the Director of the Santa Barbara Education Foundation.
Club Rotary Meething February 26th at Muligans. Our guest speaker will be a representative of the Hospice of Santa Barbara
Club Rotary Meeting March 12th at Muligans. The Family Services Agency associate(s) will be out guest speaker.
Club Rotary Meeting March 26th at Muligans. David Huber will be our guest speaker.
ROTARY CLUB of SANTA BARBARA NORTH
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
The Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North Charitable Foundation convened on January 22, 2025, awarded the following organizations with grants to run their non-profits more efficiently:
Wilderness Youth Project
Unity Shoppe
Transform Through Arts
Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation
Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee
Santa Barbara New House
Partners in Housing Solutions
Hospice of Santa Barbara
Grace Fisher Foundation
Girls Inc of Carpinteria
Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (CADA)
Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc.
Adams Elementary School
Thank you to members of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North for their membership and generous donations to our Charitable Foundation.
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