Magaly Quispe Yujra is a Bolivian sociologist dedicated to building a culture of peace and promoting non-violent human relations. As the president and founder of AVP/PAV Bolivia, she has led the implementation of conflict transformation methodologies in the country's most vulnerable settings. Her work is distinguished by an ethical approach that combines professional rigor with the ancestral principles of *Ayni*—sacred reciprocity and interdependence—seeking to decolonize aid practices and transform them into genuine processes of empowerment and human dignity. Under her leadership, PAV Bolivia has established itself as a national volunteer network with an impact across multiple areas: ● Education and Resilience: She manages the Student Residence in Sorata, providing guidance, meals, and educational support to young people from Indigenous communities, thereby facilitating their access to secondary and higher education and helping to break cycles of poverty. ● Prison System Transformation: She has pioneered the implementation of experiential workshops and productive projects—such as "Solar Tents"—within maximum-security facilities. Her approach enables incarcerated individuals to engage meaningfully with their time and regain the ability to envision a future, fostering social rehabilitation through a culture of peace and cooperative work. ● Prevention in Educational Settings: She directs programs addressing domestic violence, bullying, and violence in dating relationships within public schools in La Paz, El Alto, and Santa Cruz, positively impacting thousands of students and teachers through tools for assertive communication, empathy, and cooperation. A Vital Commitment to Peace: For Magaly, peace is not merely a theoretical concept but a daily practice requiring constant vigilance over the ego and an unwavering commitment to social justice; she reaffirms that there can be no peace without justice, dialogue, and respect for the worldviews and rights of peoples. They view their mission as transforming lives through an open hand that seeks neither loyalty nor conditions, but rather sows seeds of peace so that others, in freedom, can build a more just, inclusive, and equitable society.
Ciara Shuttleworth, Executive Director of the Polly Klaas Foundation
Our guest speaker for August 6, 2026 was Ciara Shuttleworth, Executive Director of the Polly Klaas Foundation. Ciara joined the Foundation in May 2025. She has spent over 25 years in the nonprofit sector, most recently as the Associate Manager of Donor Engagement for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. She specializes in developing plans that strengthen nonprofit organizations through fund development, community outreach, engagement, and programming.
The Polly Klaas Foundation was established in 1993, shortly after the abduction and murder of Polly Klass. Richard Allen Davis was convicted of Polly’s murder and is on death row, although he still has pending appeals. On the day after Polly’s murder, a telephone hotline was created for tips about the case. That hotline, 800-587-4357, is still in service and being answered by the Foundation. The hotline is active 24/7 and receives calls from parents and law enforcement officials. The heart of the Foundation is finding missing children. Foundation employees and volunteers counsel families on ways to search for their children, offer missing child posters, and send blasts to businesses. Leads are forwarded to law enforcement officials. The Foundation also has a rapid response team of volunteers who print posters and place them throughout the United States, often in high-visibility locations such as bus stations. The Foundation continues to work with parents and law enforcement throughout the search for the missing children. The Foundation has helped over 12,000 families of missing children.
The Foundation also works to keep kids safe and prevent kids from going missing. It provides child safety and internet safety information nationwide. Its programs encourage parents to talk to their children about personal safety. Its free safety booklet has tips for keeping kids safe, capturing their DNA, and getting fingerprinted. 25,000 of these booklets are distributed annually.
The Foundation purchased a theater in Petaluma in 2019. The theater was renovated and now serves as the location for a variety of youth projects, including summer camps, theater shows, after school musical theater, a movie series, and high school internships. Polly was a theater lover and this theater is a way to celebrate her life and love of theater and create a space for engaging youth and the community in her honor. The Foundation considers the theater a way to develop a consistent revenue stream for the Foundation’s operations. Part of Ciara’s job is to integrate the theater operations into the Foundation.
Thank you, Ciara, for the meaningful presentation. Although the Foundation is well known, many of us had little idea of the breadth of its operations and your presentation was extremely helpful.
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!
Last Friday, at Leisure Mobile Home Park, Sunrise Rotarians, along with Habitat for Humanity lended their hearts and backs to clean landscaping and yard clean up for residents there.
Lead by the Golden Hammer, Leroy, members Rob Sanville, Peter and Mary Banks and Dave and Shauna Lorenzen weeded, trimmed, pruned and hauled off nearly 1,000 gallons of yard clippings
Learn how Rotary clubs are taking action in the United States, and Canada.
by Brad Webber
31 Jul 2026
United States
After a popular home improvement show turned its cameras on Sebring, the small city in south central Florida saw an influx of tourists seeking to experience the bucolic charms depicted in HGTV’s Home Town Takeover program. There was just one problem: The area lacked a loo for the lookie-loos. In April, the Rotary Club of Sebring opened a public restroom off the town circle after a monthslong construction project. “Having safe, functional restrooms with climate control, changing stations, and disabled accessibility seemed like a no-brainer,” says club member Debra Weiser. Club members offered pro bono professional services for engineering, construction, air conditioning, and other electrical work; another painted the structure at a discount, and Rotarian city officials sped permit approvals and fee waivers.
Canada
The annual used book sale of the Rotary Club of Sarnia-Bluewaterland in Ontario has been a fixture for more than 25 years. “We all realized we were in this because we loved books, we wanted to encourage others in the community to access great books at a reasonable price, and, yes, it was a wonderful way to generate funds to support local nonprofits,” says coordinator Dale Wilcox. In January, the sale raised more than US$42,000, with leftover books being distributed to several organizations and groups, including a Canadian Armed Forces unit stationed in Latvia. “Troops are already digging into the massive collection and finding a good book to keep at their bedside or take into the field,” Lt. Col. Colleen Grebstad reported in a letter to the club.
This story originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Rotary magazine.
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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Elsie Allen Campus
After a popular home improvement show turned its cameras on Sebring, the small city in south central Florida saw an influx of tourists seeking to experience the bucolic charms depicted in HGTV’s Home Town Takeover program. There was just one problem: The area lacked a loo for the lookie-loos. In April, the Rotary Club of Sebring opened a public restroom off the town circle after a monthslong construction project. “Having safe, functional restrooms with climate control, changing stations, and disabled accessibility seemed like a no-brainer,” says club member Debra Weiser. Club members offered pro bono professional services for engineering, construction, air conditioning, and other electrical work; another painted the structure at a discount, and Rotarian city officials sped permit approvals and fee waivers.
The annual used book sale of the Rotary Club of Sarnia-Bluewaterland in Ontario has been a fixture for more than 25 years. “We all realized we were in this because we loved books, we wanted to encourage others in the community to access great books at a reasonable price, and, yes, it was a wonderful way to generate funds to support local nonprofits,” says coordinator Dale Wilcox. In January, the sale raised more than US$42,000, with leftover books being distributed to several organizations and groups, including a Canadian Armed Forces unit stationed in Latvia. “Troops are already digging into the massive collection and finding a good book to keep at their bedside or take into the field,” Lt. Col. Colleen Grebstad reported in a letter to the club.