I write an investigative column dubbed “In Your Corner” for the Press Democrat. My background is as a researcher, legal investigator and reporter. I was born and raised in San Francisco and have family in Sonoma County so have spent much of my life in the area. Now, I am grateful to have the opportunity to explore the region’s many facets as part of my work. I want to use my experience as a journalist and an investigator to shine a light on local systems, policies and practices so residents have the information they need to advocate for the changes they want to see. I’m passionate about centering the many voices in the communities I cover, and I want readers to guide my work.
Santa Rosa Sunrise rang in the New Year with its January assembly. There was a lot of discuss and much to celebrate. President Debra kicked off the meeting with a quick game of Trivial Pursuit. Warren the winner received a delicious Rotary jar filled with goodies. Home James!
First on the agenda: Our Foundation. Shauna announced that we are one of the leading clubs in District 5130 in foundation contributions this Rotary year. Overall giving this year is over $9,000.00. Sebastopol Sunrise better watch out!
It was announced that an anonymous donation was made awarding eight of our newer members a Paul Harris Fellow. As a result of this generous donation, our club are now 100% Paul Harris Fellows. Lastly there is a second, very prestigious donor who is willing to match one for one for future contributions to the foundation.
Penny briefly went over our club's financials- we are on target with our budget, and we are doing well. A lot of the cash will be spent this year: the district, RI dues, RI convention, and debunking.
Steve Zwick discussed philanthropy and grants. He reminded the club that our money we donate needs to make an impact. The perfect example is the Living Room. We had the opportunity to watch a well-made thank you video from the Executive Director from the Living Room showing us how our money has helped their organization. The Living Room Life Center is up and running, and our club has its own room dedicated to the space.
We have a new international project organized by John Jones and Peter Hoberg. Peter educated us about Brighten Haiti. This organization installs solar panels in schools. We have partnered with other Rotarians and members of the solar industry to sponsor solar installation. On January 18th the solar panels will be installed at a school in rural Haiti to create reliable lighting, computers, and other essential resources needed to learn.
Peter informed us that the school is also raising money for an ice maker, which is a very hot commodity. The students can make ice, and then turn around and sell it.
Paul discussed his passion in eradicating plastic and his involvement with End Plastic Soup-an initiative through Rotary to eliminate plastic. The world produces 20,000 plastic bottles per second: 1.4 billion plastic bottles per day. The club watched a video that illustrated the impact of the plastic bottle. We are choking in plastic!
President Debra did a wonderful job refreshing our memories on our club accomplishments the past six months, i.e., new instruments for Elsie Allen, Club Ambassador for plastic, and 100% Paul Harris Fellows.
There is much to look forward to in 2024! The Progressive Dinner will be in March, and we have another fantastic fundraiser in the horizon.
Great job, President Debra in creating an engaging assembly that truly highlights how incredibly strong and dynamic our club it!
Click HERE to view a limited-time recording of the Club Assembly.
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!
Santa Rosa Sunrise is 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club TWICE THREE TIMES!
Santa Rosa Sunrise has achieved the status of "100% Paul Harris Fellow Club" three times. Once in the 2002-03 year under the Steve Amend Presidency, and once on the 2004-05 year under the Steve Worthen Presidency, and a third time in the 2023-24 year under the Debra Robertson Presidency. Rotary clubs in which all dues-paying members are Paul Harris Fellows are eligible to receive special recognition from The Rotary Foundation. Qualifying Rotary clubs will receive a recognition banner, and the club's name will be engraved on a plaque in the Arch C. Klumph Gallery at RI World Headquarters. To obtain this recognition a club representative must contact the district governor after determining that all current, dues-paying club members are Paul Harris Fellows. For a list of all the Rotary Clubs in the world that have been recognized as 100% PHF clubs, go to WWW.Rotary.org
Bringing Reliable and Sustainable Energy to Schools in Haiti
Press Release: Brighten Haiti and Rotary Clubs Collaborate on Solar Project at Lycée Philippe-Guerrier
Cap-Haïtien, Haiti
In a landmark collaboration, Lycée Philippe-Guerrier, one of Haiti's most storied educational institutions, is set to receive a significant upgrade to its infrastructure. The Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary Club, West Seattle Rotary Club, and the Cap-Haitien Rotary Club have joined forces with Brighten Haiti to install a cutting-edge solar energy system at the school.
This solar project, executed by Brighten Haiti and its skilled Solar Apprentices, is a game-changer for the 180-year-old Lycée Philippe-Guerrier. It signifies the first time in its long history that the school will have stable electricity and computer labs, crucial for modern education.
This initiative underscores the commitment of the involved Rotary clubs and Brighten Haiti to foster sustainable development and improve educational infrastructure in Haiti. The solar installation not only promises a brighter, more efficient learning environment for the students but also serves as a shining example of the positive impact of international cooperation and renewable energy in transforming communities.
Join us in celebrating this exceptional milestone, a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in making a significant difference in the lives of young learners.
For more information, please contact John Jones, Peter Hoberg or Kevin Keene, Founder and President of Brighten Haiti, kevin.keene@brightenhaiti.org.
About Lycée Philippe-Guerrier:
Founded in 1844, Lycée Philippe-Guerrier is one of Haiti's oldest and most prestigious academic institutions, with a legacy of educational excellence.
About the Partners:
Brighten Haiti, the Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary Club, West Seattle Rotary Club, and the Cap-Haitien Rotary Club are committed to promoting sustainable solutions and education in Haiti as part of their ongoing humanitarian efforts.
Matching pledge adds $2250 to initial gifts totaling $3,250 from Sunrisers
The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise conducted two drives, one in September and another at Christmas, to provide relief for the victims of Maui wildfires. The first drive raised $1200. The second collected $1250 which was boosted by a pledge from John Jones to match gifts up to $1000. So donations of $1250, matched with $1000 from Jones resulted in a second gift of $2250. Both drives provided a total of $3250 to victims of one of the worst wildfires in US history. Some members contributed directly to the fund as well.
According to Mark Merriam, Rotary District 5130 President, our district has already distributed $450,000 distributed to to support Maui Wildfire victims, "Almost 40 grants have been approved and funded. More than $400,000 has been distribute to the Maui community. In addition to gift cards to fire survivor families. We have funded specialized burn equipment at a local hospital and funded a Health and Wellness Fair attended by 1,200 people, provided vocational grants to small business people, and provided laptops to young people."
He also thanked our club, and added "We are grateful for the support of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise and are continuing to accept donations to support the recovery and rebuilding efforts on the island of Maui. Rotary has made, and continues to make positive impacts, daily." Mark may be reached at mark.rotary@outlook.com.
News update - former Rotarian Carmen Fuentes and her husband Daniel welcomed their third child on December 10th. Santiago weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz. Santiago's sisters, Zoe and Daniela are thrilled with their little brother. All are doing well.
In difficult times like these, it’s impossible to avoid feeling heartbroken over the devastation and loss of life caused by war and destruction.
Rotary always stands against harming and displacing civilian populations and using armed aggression instead of pursuing peaceful solutions. We advocate for the observance and respect of international law. We believe in strong action to defend and promote peace, even in the darkest of times.
But we also take our position as an international, nonpolitical, nonreligious organization seriously. To respect the global perspectives and experiences of our members, and to work most effectively in our peacebuilding efforts, we do not choose sides in conflicts.
Rotary is made up of 1.4 million people in communities all over the globe who are united in our commitment to building a peaceful world. We strive to ensure that our words and actions prioritize the health and safety of our global membership and the communities where we live and serve.
Our members seek to offer humanitarian assistance to those affected by conflict, and our global reach requires that we promote peacebuilding and conflict prevention with cross-cultural, cross-border connections and friendship through Rotary.
For decades, Rotary has harnessed these connections to carry out service projects, support peace fellowships and scholarships, and establish programs like Rotary Peace Centers to help build lasting peace. Our members also take action to promote Positive Peace, addressing the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
Rotary members who wish to wage peace can use district grants and Rotary Foundation global grants to support projects with other Rotary members that help refugees and displaced people, provide medical support, and more worldwide. Members can also work with or join peace-focused Rotary Action Groups, Friendship Exchanges, Fellowships, and intercountry committees. And District Designated Funds or district cash can support our peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts.
Members and nonmembers alike can learn more about peacebuilding through the Rotary Positive Peace Academy, a free online course available to anyone with an internet connection. You can find it at positivepeace.academy/rotary.
There is no denying that incidents of violence and atrocities being perpetuated around the world seem to be escalating. Global peace is fragile, and the stakes are getting higher.
Still, we know that it is possible to bring all people together to work toward a shared goal. Rotary members do so every day in every part of the world. May our ability to unify in common purpose be a spark that helps light the path out of these dark days.
The new year ushers in promise and hope, a time to resolve to do things differently. We can do more than just hope for the best. We can take steps — big and small — to make changes in every aspect of our lives, including Rotary.
Here’s a New Year’s resolution to consider: Remember that The Rotary Foundation belongs to you. The Foundation is a global force, doing our good work in the world. Just like anything that belongs to you, it requires care and attention. How can we do this?
First, get to know your Foundation better this year. Did you know that in 2023, the Foundation achieved a maximum four-star rating from Charity Navigator for the 15th consecutive year? This places your Foundation among the world’s top charities. Why do we consistently receive this honor? It’s because we are financially strong, have a broad reach, and are highly effective with the gifts you give: 91 percent of funds are allocated to program awards and operations.
Another way to engage with your Foundation is to support it through a gift, every year. We’ve set an ambitious fundraising goal of $500 million this year, and I’m confident that, with your support, we will achieve it. This year, I’m especially counting on those Rotarians and Rotaractors who have not yet contributed to make their first gift. Because The Rotary Foundation is an excellent steward, you can be confident that your gift will make a difference, whether it’s in polio eradication, literacy initiatives, peace education, or any other area in which we excel.
In 2024, resolve to share the Foundation with others. The Foundation is too great to keep to ourselves. Spread the word during your fundraisers and events. Let the public know that The Rotary Foundation plays a significant role in everything we do, including in our many partnerships. Anyone can support the Foundation, even people who are not in Rotary.
Lastly this year, take action. Your Foundation is waiting for you to roll up your sleeves and make use of its resources to make the world a better place. Seek out global or district grant projects. Consider partnering with a Rotaract club in 2024 to support a grant or collaborate on one. Team up with Rotary and Rotaract clubs in your area to plan your biggest million dollar dinner fundraiser or End Polio Now event.
Whatever you decide to do in 2024, commit to keeping our Foundation in your plans. I can’t wait to hear about all the great things we will accomplish this year.
San Miguel de Allende, rising up out of Mexico’s central highlands, has been a magnet for tourists and expatriates since American artists began flocking here in the 1930s. They were drawn by the cobblestone streets lined with colorful homes, the colonial architecture, and the traditions of local artisans. As if under the city’s spell, many never left.
Together with longtime residents, the newcomers helped establish the city as an international arts center. This revived the fortunes of a place that a century prior had fallen into decline with the diminished production of nearby silver mines that had generated riches during centuries of Spanish rule. The city, founded in the 16th century, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2005, a handful of the city’s expats chartered the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday to channel their time and resources into service projects, continuing a long tradition here of newcomers partnering with local nonprofit organizations. “From the beginning, it’s been projects, projects, projects,” says longtime member Gary Peterson, originally from California. “Our focus has always been on projects and fellowship.”
In many ways, the group is like other Rotary clubs started by people who relocated to other countries for work or retirement, including Bocas del Toro in Panama, Chiang Mai International in Thailand, and Tokyo Hiroo in Japan. These clubs provide expats an opportunity to continue doing Rotary service using their own language while acclimating to their new communities. The San Miguel de Allende-Midday club has also been a particularly effective bridge for newcomers to form a deeper connection through friendships and service with their adoptive community and vice versa.
Members of the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday (from left): José De Anda Pérez, Carla Cadena, Joe Ruffino, Andrea Spessard, and Lee Carter. The club serves as a hub of cultural exchange.
Rodrigo Cruz
One of its longest-standing projects involves working alongside local organizations like the Centro de Desarrollo Agropecuario (Agricultural Development Center), or CEDESA. Together, they form collectives with female leaders in rural communities and train them to build and manage drinking water cisterns. “By connecting with organizations like CEDESA, it allowed us to demonstrate the value of why we are doing what we are doing,” says Club President Joe Ruffino, who moved to San Miguel in 2017 from upstate New York and bought a small pizzeria.
How to escape the expat bubble
Working with the local community is an important part of any Rotary service project, but it is especially important for an international club of expats. As vice president of community service for the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday, Andrea Spessard connects with members every meeting to learn how they want to get involved. The club has organized around project teams instead of committees and encourages every member to be on a project. She shared these additional tips for engaging the local community:
Start with an assessment. “We want to ensure we understand what the community’s need is and not just our perspective of it,” Spessard says.
Collaborate with local organizations. The San Miguel de Allende-Midday club partners with some of the area’s more than 100 nongovernmental organizations. That helps the club tap into their local knowledge and credibility.
Involve community leaders. The greater San Miguel area includes about 500 rural communities. In their cistern project, the club provides funding, resources, and training, but the communities build the cisterns themselves. “They have the pride of ownership and learn how to maintain them,” Spessard says.
Stay connected. The rainwater harvesting cisterns are made of concrete and covered with waterproof paint. “Every few years they need to be repainted,” Spessard explains, “and we make that a Rotary project too.”
Lee Carter, immediate past president, agrees. “At the very beginning, we realized we had no credibility in the rural communities and for us to go out and work there would be ridiculous,” says Carter, who has lived in San Miguel for more than 30 years. “CEDESA works directly in communities. They are our inroad.”
Alongside the service, members of the club have formed friendships beyond the expat community that they might not have otherwise. “It has been the greatest pleasure in the water projects to get to know and work beside these amazing women,” Carter says. “I have been friends with many of them for over 10 years. It is these relationships that keep me involved.”
But despite all that, until recently, something was missing. The club was predominantly male expats. At the start of his 2022-23 presidential year, Carter set out to recruit more women, young people, and native residents. As a result, the club’s membership has nearly doubled since then. Now, more than a third of its 48 members are women, and eight are bilingual Mexicans, including several young adults.
“It’s been amazing,” says José De Anda Pérez, one of those young adults, a dual member of the Rotary club and the Rotaract Club of San Miguel de Allende. “Working with both has opened my mind to creating opportunities to help the community. I want to learn how to plan projects and bring that knowledge back to my Rotaract club.”
The club’s efforts to empower women and girls have also helped it diversify its membership. The club partnered with the international organization Days for Girls to provide washable menstrual products for more than 1,700 girls in the fifth and sixth grades. And the club works with Niñas Sabias (Wise Girls) to educate the girls about menstrual health and empower them to understand their worth and potential. “I think this project more than anything else has opened people’s eyes to Rotary being more than they thought,” says Carter.
Andrea Spessard, who leads the club’s service project teams, has seen the results firsthand. She was invited to attend a sixth grade graduation ceremony last June for a girl in the program who was initially reluctant to go on to secondary school. “Through our program she was empowered, learned how important education is, and developed a connection with a teacher who believed in her and encouraged her to stay in school.”
The club also supports a school for people with hearing impairments. An initial global grant helped expand the capacity of the school, which provides education and vocational training in skills like woodworking, sewing, and cooking. A new global grant is funding a vocational training team including educators from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York, to provide teacher training in San Miguel and surrounding areas. “About 60 young people have gone through the school,” says club member John Doherty, who helped establish the school. “We’ve had kids come in cowering in a corner. Now they are fully engaged 10- or 11-year-olds.”
The club also holds a mix and mingle every Monday night with the Rotaract club and the Spanish-speaking Rotary club in the city to form friendships and practice language skills. It’s one of the ways the club has become a hub of cultural exchange. “We have plenty of people come to the meeting who are visiting or guests,” says Ruffino. “They may not want to join Rotary, but they just come to learn.”
This story originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of Rotary magazine.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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