Dorothy Battenfeld represents Area 5 (Santa Rosa Central) on the Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees. Elected in 2014, she was President of the Board from 2021-2024. At the state level, she serves on the Community College League of California Trustee Board, and the Affordability, Food and Housing Access Taskforce. A Social Science teacher at Montgomery High School for 30 years, Dorothy coordinated their International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, which she helped to found in 1995. In 2012, she was named IB Teacher of the Year by the California Association of IB World Schools and has been awarded two Fulbright fellowships. Dorothy graduated from Hampshire College and received an M.A. in American Studies from George Washington University.
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!
Did You Know That Rotary Helped to Form the United Nations?
Next Thursday, December 11, several Sunrise members including President Lori will be attending the 80th anniversary commemoration of Rotary International's partnership with the goals of the United Nations.
Meeting in San Francisco at War Memorial auditorium, Rotarians and interested parties have the opportunity to work on building cooperative momentum toward meeting joined sustainable development goals.
Included in these, are social, economic and civic initiatives ranging from river and ocean cleanup to literacy and public health initiatives.
Space is still available for all sessions. Contact President Lori, Marty Behr, Harry Coffey or Rich Randolph for additional details. The current plan is to carpool immediately following our December 11 meeting in order to arrive in time for the opening noon session.
A man was driving through west Texas one spring evening. The road was deserted and he had not seen a soul for what seemed like hours. Suddenly his car started to cough and splutter and the engine slowly died away, leaving him sitting on the side of the road in total silence. He popped the hood and looked to see if there was anything that he could do to get it going again. Unfortunately, he had a limited knowledge of cars, so all he could do was look at the engine, feeling despondent As he stood looking at the gradually fading light of his flashlight, he cursed that he had not put in new batteries, like he had promised himself. Suddenly, through the inky shadows, came a deep voice, "It's your fuel pump." The man raised up quickly, striking his head on the underside of the hood. "Who said that?" he demanded. There were two horses standing in the fenced field alongside the road and the man was amazed when the nearest of the two horses repeated, "It's your fuel pump. Tap it with your flashlight, and try it again." Confused, the man tapped the fuel pump with his flashlight, turned the key and sure enough, the engine roared to life. He muttered a short thanks to the horse and screeched away. When he reached the next town, he ran into the local bar. "Gimme a large whiskey, please!" he said. A rancher sitting at the bar looked at the man's ashen face and asked, "What's wrong, man? You look like you've seen a ghost." "It's unbelievable," the man said and recalled the whole tale to the rancher. The rancher took a sip of his beer and looked thoughtful. "A horse, you say? Was it by any chance a white horse?" The man replied to the affirmative. "Yes, it was! Am I crazy?" "No, you ain't crazy. In fact, you're lucky," said the rancher, "because that black horse don't know noth’in about cars.
This month’s special issue of Rotary magazine is all about happiness, that most elemental of human yearnings. More than a feeling, though, this state of positive well-being, and the conditions necessary to create and sustain it, should be considered a universal right.
December also marks Rotary’s Disease Prevention and Treatment Month, when we highlight our members’ work to promote health and wellness, including mental wellness. Globally, nearly 1 in 7 people have a mental health disorder, according to a recent World Health Organization report. Yet only 9 percent of people with depression receive adequate treatment.
We are fortunate in Rotary to have a powerful way to support emotional well-being and happiness: friendship. The connections we build in Rotary can be a powerful force for change. I know this from personal experience.
When my fellow members first proposed that I become club president, I demurred. I had a stutter. I was terrified of speaking. But having club members who supported me and surrounded me with affection enabled me to face my fear, and I found a way to stand confidently before a crowd.
Today, I regularly address audiences — some numbering in the thousands — in a language that is not native to me. The Rotary members in my life helped me create lasting change within myself.
That fellowship gives us the courage and means to create lasting change in the world as well, and mental health services are in desperate need of improvement. The WHO reports that governments on average devote only 2 percent of their health budgets to mental health, and only 11 percent of that funding reaches community-based services. In some countries, only one trained mental health professional is available for every 100,000 people. The WHO has called for strategic and urgent action to close the gap.
Rotary can answer that call by championing mental health awareness in our clubs, working with local health systems, funding training for community health workers, and supporting initiatives that bring care to places where none exists. Even small investments in mental health yield enormous returns in productivity, public health, and happiness.
While we are creating lasting change in the world, we cannot forget to take care of each other. Past RI President Gordon McInally wisely reminds us that we must go beyond asking, “How are you?” We owe it to each other to instead ask, “How are you really?”
As we transition to a new year filled with new possibilities, let us Unite for Good — for healing, friendship, and access to happiness.
You can find all prior "RI President's Messages" at this LINK
As 2020-21 Rotary president, I shared our hopes for a new initiative: Programs of Scale. The seeds we planted then are now bearing remarkable fruit.
After the success of Rotary’s first Programs of Scale grant recipient, Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, the Gates Foundation and World Vision approached us to do more and bigger projects. They know Rotary can make great things happen. From that partnership grew the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, now Rotary’s most significant disease prevention initiative after polio eradication.
The Healthy Communities Challenge aims to combat pneumonia, malaria, and diarrheal diseases, the leading killers of children under 5 in many parts of Africa. Despite progress, these diseases still claim 1 million young lives annually.
This strategic partnership between The Rotary Foundation, the Gates Foundation, World Vision, and PATH, a global nonprofit dedicated to health equity, is now saving lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia.
Let us not forget that our partnerships are made up of people — volunteers, Rotary members, and professionals — striving to make a difference. One of them is Gisela Bettencourt Mirção, of the Rotary Club of Chimoio-Planalto, Mozambique, Healthy Communities Challenge national coordinator and assistant governor for District 9210, who reports:
In Mozambique, preventable diseases remain leading causes of death of children.
With support from our partners, District 9210, and the Ministry of Health, the Healthy Communities Challenge mobilizes resources, technical expertise, and volunteers to strengthen community health systems in two provinces in the country’s west.
Community health workers are trained to deliver lifesaving education, prevention tools, and early treatment to families in hard-to-reach areas. The program expands access to testing, diagnosis, and treatment, ensuring children receive timely care. Rotary coordinates advocacy, procures essential supplies, and ensures local ownership alongside government health structures. In its first year, the Healthy Communities Challenge reached thousands of households across four districts, supporting more than 4,400 community health workers to protect children.
I have been involved since the planning stages, but I hadn’t grasped the true impact until seeing it firsthand.
Through the Healthy Communities Challenge, Programs of Scale, and polio eradication, Rotary proves that partnerships, community engagement, and vision can transform global health and save lives.
Your support of The Rotary Foundation makes you part of this life-changing work.
You can find all prior "Messages from the Foundation Trustee Chair" at this LINK
Contributions will support projects around the globe, including a robust recommitment to the fight to end polio
By Etelka Lehoczky
Donors to The Rotary Foundation celebrated some big achievements in fundraising in the past year, showing their support for the wide array of programs the organization sponsors all over the world.
A multiyear campaign to increase the Endowment to US$2.025 billion by 2025 exceeded its goal by US$25 million. In 2024-25 alone, members and others contributed more than half a billion dollars to the Foundation.
“The goal was an inspiration, but the objective was to do good in the world,” says Mark Daniel Maloney, the 2024-25 Rotary Foundation trustee chair. “We are making sure that Rotary will always be able to carry out that mission.”
The Foundation raised more than US$569 million in 2024-25 alone, exceeding its annual goal by almost US$70 million. More than 478,000 individuals donated, along with over 31,000 Rotary clubs and nearly 1,900 Rotaract clubs.
Thanks to its donors, the Foundation was able to award 1,424 global grants, 468 district grants, and 74 disaster response grants in the past year. A US$2 million Programs of Scale grant will help build peace and economic independence in Colombia. Rotary International also extended its long-standing partnership with the Gates Foundation, announcing a joint commitment of up to US$450 million over three years to support global polio eradication efforts.
“Rotary members demonstrated their commitment to these efforts with their support of the 2.025 by 2025 campaign,” Maloney says. In particular, he notes the large number of fundraising events around the world that Rotary’s district governors organized.
“I am just amazed at the generosity of Rotary members,” he says. “They came together to make it happen.”
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Donors to The Rotary Foundation celebrated some big achievements in fundraising in the past year, showing their support for the wide array of programs the organization sponsors all over the world.