Codie Welsh is Manager of Volunteer & Grief Services with Providence at Home with Compassus. Codie has served for over 20 years as part of the community-based Hospice program that started in 1977. With a BA in Communications from UCSB, Codie combines experience in Media, Public Relations, and Development with her love of working with and supporting others to lead the hospice’s community programs. If not gardening, hiking or walking her dog, you can find Codie in So Cal visiting her two kids in college.
Bruce Mentzer of Farm to Fight Hunger was our speaker for Thursday, October 30, 2025. Bruce and his partner moved to Sonoma County a few years ago and almost immediately started taking classes in sustainable agriculture from the SRJC. Bruce had an amazing experience at SRJC’s Shone Farm, where he learned the details of sustainable agriculture. He bought a 5-acre vineyard property, tore out the vines, and started Farm to Fight Hunger, a 501c3 dedicated to growing, harvesting, and delivering nutritious produce and eggs, free of charge, to those in need in Sonoma County.
According to the Press Democrat, hunger in Sonoma County is a daily reality for thousands. Farm to Fight Hunger was started to fight this horrible reality. They started the farm in 2019 and are now in their 7th growing season. Their motto is “Grow Gather Give.” The farm is located in Healdsburg on Los Amigos Road. Farm to Fight Hunger partners with Zeke Guzman and his “El Jardin Del Pueblo,” which operates a community garden in Healdsburg. They also work with 3 other satellite farms in Geyserville, Fulton, and Sonoma. Farm to Fight Hunger’s mission is to sustainably grow nutritious culturally relevant vegetables, and to produce pasture-raised eggs, all for donation to those experiencing food insecurity. The farm uses the sustainable agriculture practices learned at Shone Farm, including cover cropping (fava beans and winter rye), natural pest control, hedgerows, swales, compost, and bees. Since 2019, the farm has donated over 210,000 pounds of culturally appropriate vegetables (840,000 servings) and over 109,250 eggs to the community. Culturally appropriate vegetables include those often used in Hispanic cultures, including chili peppers (serranos, poblanos, and jalapenos), nopalitos, squashes, and banana tree leaves, among others (Not eggplant!). Farm to Fight Hunger also has 100 producing chickens and another 200 baby chickens.
Most of the labor required to grow, harvest, pack, and deliver their products is done by volunteer farmworkers. The company has only 2 paid employees, both of whom are also farmworkers. The company partners with the Redwood Empire Food Bank, Healdsburg Food Pantry, Alliance Medical, and Corazon Healdsburg for shipping and distribution. They are in the process of converting 2 acres of neighboring vineyards per year starting in 2026.
Many thanks to Bruce for the fantastic presentation and for all the good work he and his partner are doing to help fight hunger in Sonoma County! It is an amazing story.
Click HERE to view a limited time recording of Bruce's presentation.
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Petaluma Valley Hosted October's SCARC Dinner at the Petaluma Art Center
Petaluma Valley Rotary Club hosted the Sonoma County Association of Rotary Clubs monthly meeting (SCARC) at the Petaluma Art Center (PAC.) The theme was Halloween, of course, and costumes were encouraged. The center was displaying a related art show so not only did we have good food and fellowship but a fantastic atmosphere as well.
It was a full house!
The fantastic food was catered by Plaza Tequila here in Petaluma.
November 14, Friday marks the 21st Annual Veterans Tribute luncheon.
Organized and sponsored by Santa Rosa Kiwanis and Rotary Club member and their business this year the event resumes at the
Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building.
Purchase your two tickets from Ralph Harryman or Rich Randolph. Invite a Veteran or donate one ticket. Your attendance shows support to our Armed Forces Veterans!
Colonel Misty, Zelk Air National Guard Physician and combat veteran of Iraq and currently Medical Director at Spring Lake Village is our keynote speaker.
Sunrise members are asked to purchase two tickets: one for yourself and one for a veteran. Cash or check are accepted, checks need be payable to Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary, memo Veterans Luncheon.
The Rotary clubs in Asheville, North Carolina, and Copan Ruinas Honduras are paralleling our upcoming project in El Salvador.
During my recent visit to the Asheville, North Carolina club I learned of their long-standing 12-year partnership with the Rotary club of Copan Ruinas Honduras.
It is wonderful to learn that Rotary is indeed and international network of people coming together to serve. This screen shot was the live call with the Honduran DDS. This meeting recap sums up how Rotary can build international bridges of Goodwill, Beneficial to All Concerned!
Three Rotary Club members, all a little hard of hearing, were standing by the bowling green in the park. One remarked to the other "Windy, isn't it?" "No" the second man replied, "its Thursday". The third man nodded in agreement: "So am I. Lets have a cup of tea"
This November, as we celebrate The Rotary Foundation, I invite you to consider not only what we give but why we give. The Foundation is more than a fund for projects. It is the beating heart of our promise that service, rooted in trust and friendship, can create lasting change.
Our Action Plan calls us to increase our impact, and the Foundation is how we make this vision real. Since 1988, Rotary and our partners have immunized nearly 3 billion children against polio. We have committed more than $2.6 billion to this cause, and last year alone we directed $146 million toward the final push for eradication. These numbers are significant, but the true impact is not in statistics — it is in the lives of children who will never again fear polio. It is in the hope restored to families and the peace built in communities once defined by disease.
But polio is only one story among many. Each year, Rotary Peace Centers train new generations of leaders who will transform conflict into dialogue and division into understanding. In 2023-24, nearly 100 new fellows began their studies, continuing a legacy of more than 1,800 peacebuilders from over 140 countries. When we invest in them, we are planting seeds of peace that will bear fruit for decades to come.
The Foundation also touches lives through district and global grants, supporting projects large and small. A clean water well for a rural community, scholarships for young professionals, medical care in the wake of disaster — these are not temporary gestures, but steps toward dignity, resilience, and opportunity. This is how Rotary service becomes lasting impact. And when natural disasters strike, our Foundation allows Rotary to act quickly with disaster response grants.
Our Foundation is not about what we can do alone but what we can do together. Each contribution, no matter its size, joins with others to create a collective act of faith in humanity and in the future.
The last mile of any great journey is always the hardest. We see this in our final steps toward ending polio, in our work for peace, and in every project that seeks to lift people out of despair. Yet every time we give, we declare that our work will continue regardless of the challenge.
This November, let us give with gratitude, with joy, and with hope. Through our Foundation, we Unite for Good, and in doing so, we leave behind not only projects but a legacy of peace, trust, and Service Above Self.
You can find all prior "RI President's Messages" at this LINK
Many of you will remember the theme I chose as RI president in 2020-21: Rotary Opens Opportunities. I remain passionate about these opportunities and I know you do too.
As we celebrate Rotary Foundation Month, let’s reflect on the many ways the Foundation makes the world better. Rotary is extraordinary, and the Foundation amplifies that impact.
I encourage all of you — in Rotary and Rotaract clubs — to discover this for yourselves. Go beyond the local level and engage with The Rotary Foundation globally. You can partner with clubs to boost literacy in Guatemala or fight malaria in Zambia. You can make a difference with clean water initiatives reaching millions or maternal health programs saving lives across continents.
It doesn’t stop there. Through major impact projects like Programs of Scale, we’re pursuing bold initiatives that push Rotary’s potential to create lasting change further. Greater impact and greater visibility: this is our path forward.
Many of you have asked about the status of Rotary’s biggest impact project in history — our long-term commitment to polio eradication. Recently, RI President Francesco Arezzo, International PolioPlus Committee Chair Michael McGovern, and I met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army leadership of Pakistan. Everyone is fully committed to eradicating polio once and for all. We were absolutely convinced by the work of Pakistan’s emergency operations centers, where experts plan and coordinate vaccination.
While some governments scale back support for polio eradication, Rotary remains committed to its pledge to raise $50 million again this year. This meeting reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to finishing this historic mission.
What excites me most is seeing how each of us can make a real difference through our Foundation. I urge everyone — especially newcomers to Rotary — to explore these opportunities. Find your passion among our areas of focus and discover projects to support, especially through global grants.
We members fund, sustain, and deliver these projects. That’s why the Foundation consistently earns top ratings from Charity Navigator. If you don’t want to lead a project, you can still be part of the Foundation through annual support.
Our fundraising goal for 2025-26 is an ambitious $500 million. Your gift this month will create countless opportunities.
We have incredible opportunities before us, and the impact we achieve together through The Rotary Foundation is exponential. The proof is undeniable.
You can find all prior "Messages from the Foundation Trustee Chair" at this LINK
Do you have questions about Rotary’s pledge to end polio? We’ve got answers.
By Etelka Lehoczky
You’ve likely heard a lot about polio in recent weeks. Rotary members talk about it all year, but never more than in the month leading up to World Polio Day on 24 October. It’s one of the most important days of the year for Rotary — a time to reaffirm our nearly four-decade commitment to eliminating this disease from the world.
Polio eradication may seem complicated, but it’s actually fairly straightforward. If you’ve ever wondered about the science of the disease, the history of Rotary’s fight against it, or the progress of the global eradication effort, find the answers to those questions and more below.
What is polio, and why is it such a threat?
Poliomyelitis, also known as polio, is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord and brain stem. Most people infected with the virus don’t show any symptoms, but a small number become paralyzed. Polio primarily targets children under age five.
Polio can spread rapidly from person to person, such as through a cough or a sneeze. If an infected person doesn’t wash their hands after coughing or using the toilet, they can transmit the virus even if they don’t know they’re infected. Polio can also spread through contaminated water in areas with poor sanitation.
Wild poliovirus occurs naturally in the environment and has three types. Type 2 and type 3 were declared eradicated in the 2010s, but type 1 remains. Variant poliovirus occurs when the weakened strain of virus contained in the oral vaccine circulates for a long time and mutates into a form that can cause paralysis like wild polio. Variant poliovirus cases are rare.
Why does Rotary care about polio eradication?
Rotary members are determined to end polio for many reasons — including that its effects are terrible, and its main victims are young children. Rotary International began working to vaccinate children against polio in 1979. In 1985, Rotary created its PolioPlus program to amplify these efforts. Then in 1988, Rotary and our partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
We’ve come a remarkably long way since then. Polio was endemic in 125 countries in 1988; that’s down to two now. The global effort to eradicate polio has prevented an estimated 20 million cases of paralysis.
Wiping out this disease is possible. We are very close to ensuring that no child suffers from polio ever again.
How widespread is polio? Can it affect me?
Wild polio remains endemic in only Afghanistan and Pakistan. But because it spreads so easily, one or two cases can quickly multiply. In our world of global travel, an infected person can carry the disease to the other side of the world even if they aren’t sick themselves. In 2022, an adult in New York, USA, contracted polio and was paralyzed. Genetic testing of the virus infecting that person linked it to polio viruses found in London and Jerusalem. This shows that as long as polio exists somewhere in the world, nobody is truly safe.
How do we fight polio?
Polio is fought primarily with vaccines and environmental surveillance. The GPEI promotes both routine and supplementary campaigns to immunize young children. Surveillance consists of identifying and promptly reporting polio cases and monitoring sewage water for the presence of the virus.
What role does Rotary have in the GPEI?
Rotary helped create the GPEI, whose other core partners include the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Rotary members fight polio in many ways, including:
Raising funds
Soliciting support from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and corporations
Immunizing children
Raising awareness in their communities
Rotary has helped immunize 3 billion children against polio, contributed more than US$2.9 billion to global polio eradication efforts, and helped secure more than US$11 billion from donor governments.
Organize an event to raise funds and promote awareness in your community. Try a group walk or bike ride, a concert featuring local bands, or a barbecue.
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper about the importance of continuing the fight against polio.
Write to your local and national representatives to ask for their continued support.
Post on social media about the need to eradicate polio.
Create a fundraising campaign using Raise for Rotary, our online crowdfunding tool.
Rotary knows that a world without polio is within our grasp. On World Polio Day and throughout the year, we’ll keep fighting.
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