Simi Sunrise Rotary - Four Avenues of Service

Thanksgiving Dinner for senior and homeless:

Our 14th Annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner for the Seniors of Simi Valley and the Homeless was held on November 24th. We fed 326 seniors and homeless plus 125 volunterrs a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had approximately 60 volunteers from the Rotary club of Simi Sunrise, 61 volunteer boy scouts and leaders from 3 troops and 5 volunteers from the Simi High School Interact club. We also had in attendance and volunteer help from 5 City, County and State leaders. While we had a budget of $1,200, we were able to put on a first class event at little cost to the club leaving the funds to be used for other worthwhile projects. The turkeys were donated through the office of State Senator Tom McClintock and they were cooked by one of our local restaurants (Mavericks). The additional costs of supplies and food was covered through the sale of Table Sponsorships. 29 businesses represented by the members of the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise and our friends have stepped up to be Table Sponsors at $50 each. Officially the event is being sponsored by the Rotary Club of Simi Valley and the Council On Aging. The support of the Council On Aging enables us to utilize the Simi Valley Senior Citizens Center at no charge and to utilize the city’s Dial-A-Ride facilities to transport many of the seniors to the event. Entertainment for this year’s event was the Simi Valley High School orchestra and the Simi Valley High School cheerleaders.

The two major accomplishments of this event are:

1. A major community service project where Rotary provides a free Thanksgiving Dinner to the seniors of our community, many of whom would spend Thanksgiving alone. This event shows the seniors, and the community, that we care for, support and honor our seniors. In addition we also feed a number of the homeless in our community, but it is the seniors who are the bulk of the people we feed.

2. This event gives 40+ young Boy Scouts the opportunity to serve their elders and shows them how much their service is appreciated. The scouts go through the buffet line with many of the seniors who cannot hold their own trays and wait on the seniors as they are eating providing them with coffee, punch, water and desert. Watching the scouts and seniors react to each other makes this event a success.

The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise and the Simi Valley Police Foundation Golf Tournament (Formally Pars for Paws).

On August 30th we held the 11th annual golf tournament. The Pars for Paws Golf Tournament was started for the unique reason of raising funds that would be dedicated to building and maintaining the City of Simi Valley’s K-9 corp. As the event has grown it is now a joint effort between the Simi Valley Police Foundation and the Charitable Foundation of the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise. The net profit is now split three ways. 1/3 directly to the K-9, 1/3 to the Simi Valley Police Foundation for there support of the Police Department as a whole and the citizen involvement and 1/3 the Charitable Foundation of the Rotary Club of Simi Valley to be used primarily for the club’s scholarship programs. This year the event was help at the Lost Canyons Golf Club.

Over 60 volunteers and a year long effort by the Rotary Club of Simi Valley made this event a success. Approximately $30,000 net profit which was split amount the three organizations stated above. This event highlights the support of the Simi Valley Police Department by the Rotary Club of Simi Valley and the unique relationship of our club to the K-9’s.

Samaritan Center

The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise has two ongoing projects with our local Samaritan Center. The first is our support of their dinner program for the less fortunate. On two nights a month we supply the food and serve those who utilize the services of the center. In addition, any food left over from the Thanksgiving Dinner goes to the Samaritan center for their dinner program. The second project is the collection of individual size containers of personal care products which can be used by the homeless that use their shower, laundry and personal care facilities.

Blood Bank

So far this year we have had the bloodmobile at our meeting twice with great response both times.

Relay for Life

Again this year we had a very rewarding effort in our support of Relay for Life. The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise again this year produced a team of very dedicated walkers for the 24 hours event. We were not only able to support the American Cancer Society, but were able to show the community how much Rotary cares.

Every 15 Minutes

This year the Every 15 Minutes program will be back at Royal High School and the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise will be supporting this program both financially and with volunteer help as needed.

Friends of the Library

In the past our support of the Friends of the Library has been primarily limited to financial. This year they came to us with a specific need for equipment for their outreach program pertaining specifically to books on tape. We were able to locate a number of tape machines, which we purchased and donated which enabled them to establish a very aggressive book on tape program to those not able to come to the library and are serviced by the Friends of the Library’s outreach program.

Care and Share

We conducted a very aggressive program between Thanksgiving and Christmas to collect food for the Care and Share program.

CPR

We participated in a free CPR program conducted by the Simi Valley Hospital.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity will be building three homes in Simi Valley this year. The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise has committed to two projects within this effort. First we have committed to funding and building one roof and second we are committed to providing volunteer efforts for the framing and other projects.

F.E.I. Children’s International Jumping Final

The F.E.I. Children’s International Jumping Finals was held at Hummingbird Nest Ranch on November 22-28. This is a world class international event that was combined with a local arts and crafts fare, an antique car show, an art show and a kid’s play area. The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise was the official sponsor of the kid’s area. In addition we provided over 20 volunteers to help make this a very successful event. Volunteers provided help with walking horses, security, traffic control, driving shuttles and even major reconstruction of the vendor area after it was nearly destroyed by the high winds Saturday night. All the funds generated from this event were donated to the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.

Cajun Creole Music Festival

This year the Cajun Creole Music Festival will be held on May 28 & 29. This is the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise’s main fund raiser of the year with expected net revenues in excess of $100,000.

Last year we started a very special community event associated with the Cajun Creole Music Event and will continue and expand it this year. For the last two years we have been able to attract the Budweiser Clydesdales to the event. Last year we were able to arrange to have them stabled at the event itself and we expect the same this year. The viewing of the Clydesdales is open to the public free of charge and does not require a ticket to the Cajun Creole Music Festival. On the Friday before the event starts we will coordinate with the Simi Valley Unified School District to have a number of Special Education children bussed to the site to view and interact with the horses. The Special Education children are the most severely handicapped, either physically or mentally, of our students. Watching these children with the Dalmatian and the Clydesdales make the Cajun Creole Music Festival worthwhile even if we do not raise one dime. The handlers take the time to insure that every one of the children had a chance to pet the dog and then, very slowly, led one of the horses by them, allowing every student a chance to touch the horse. The look in the eyes of these kids exemplified what Rotary is all about.

This event falls into many different categories. 1st it is definitely a major fundraiser generating between $65,000 and $100,000+ for the clubs supported charities both locally and internationally.

2nd it is a Community Event bringing to the local residents one of the largest family events held in the community. The Cajun Creole Music Festival is the largest (and finest) of its kind on the West Coast. This year we will have an expanded kid’s area that should add to the enjoyment of the entire family. The event is also an income generator to the entire community as well as to the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise. In addition to the 65+ booths and 25+ food booths that will be open to produce a profit, the 15,000 people that attend the event will certainly spend money within the Simi Valley city limits.

3rd the event falls under Rotary Gives Thanks. The interaction between our Special Ed kids and the Budweiser Clydesdales definitely ranks this event as a premiere Rotary Gives Thanks event.

Pat’s Party

The Rancho Sequoia Recreation and Park District and the Simi Valley Historical Society will be holding a fundraiser on April 16th. The money from the fund raiser will go to the completion of the restoration of the St. Rose of Lima Church (Simi Valley’s first church built in 1902) which has been moved to the Strathearn Historical Park. The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise will man the refreshment (beer) booth with all the proceeds going to the fundraiser. Pat Haven is the City Historian, Museum Director and author of the book SIMI VALLEY: A Journey Through Time.

2003-2004 Co-Chairpersons

Randy Greene - Youth Services Mike McCaffery - Outreach

Co-chairs Randy and Mike assembled another great team to work in the first service

of Rotary and what a stupendous year it was. The many projects undertaken were

important to the community and provided a much-needed resource to those in need.

1. Our club has a long-standing tradition of providing a Thanksgiving dinner for

the elderly at Simi Valley’s Senior Center. It is a grand feast replete with all

the trimmings. It is very rewarding to see the smiles on the many faces of

those in attendance. Over 100 Rotarians, their families and friends, youth

groups, and other volunteers provided the work force.

2. We also began a new program this year to help in feeding the homeless at the

Samaritan Center on a bi-weekly basis. This is a two-step process wherein we

first have to find a local restaurant or store to donate the food before we can

cook and/or serve it.

3. We have continued our Literacy Program of donating books to the children’s

library and enhanced it with a special twist by having our weekly guest

speaker sign a book that in some way relates to the topic of the day. We

donate this book to the library in the speaker’s name.

4. Working with the noon RC, we purchased, assembled and gave away 100

bicycles to needy children in Simi Valley. This project utilized over forty

Rotarians, their families and friends, who spent an evening putting these bikes

together.

5. We sent four students to the district’s RYLA program again this year. They

reported to us that they felt it was an excellent program well worth their time.

6. We are working with the noon RC and the evening RC on our Centennial

Project. Plans are well underway and we look forward to great success.

7. Camp Rotary continues to serve our Community in providing a wilderness

opportunity for scouting, schoolchildren and many other members of the

community that takes advantage of the areas serenely beautiful surroundings.

We assembled a team of Rotarians, that included members, families and

friends of the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise, the Rotary Club of Simi Valley,

and a group boy scouts and their leaders to repair a water system and replace

trees that were damaged by the fires that swept through the area.

8. Club members and families filled the full 24 hour time-period at the “The

American Cancer Societies Relay for Life” raising thousands of dollars.

9. Our club sponsored a holiday shopping spree at a local department store for

ten elementary schoolchildren chosen by the schools. The club provided

$200.00 to each child to spend on clothes and other needs. Parents and

Rotarians accompanied the children.

10. Our Club replaced a wheelchair stolen from a woman with multiple sclerosis.

Her family was unable to offer any assistance thereby leaving her confined to

her home.

11. We have agreed to provide roofing plus labor for a Habitat for Humanity

house scheduled for the first quarter of 2005.

12. We again participated in the sponsorship of Simi Valley’s Annual Huck Finn

Fishin Derby for children age 15 or under. There were many happy faces that

day.

13. Sitka House Work – City Code Enforcement- a family of one adult and six

children were locked out of their house by Code Enforcement, we cleaned up

the house, yards, replaced a damaged washer and dryer and disposed of (5) 40

ton containers of rubbish over (3) weekends. The family was able to move

back into the house when we were done.

14. Our club also sponsored or provided volunteers for these additional events:

· Three Red Cross Blood Drives

· Strathern Park Ghost Tour – provided parking and traffic control for the

Strathern Park Historical Association

· Care and Share - sponsored two food drives, collected canned foods and

other items and delivered them to the local distribution center

· Samaritan Center - collected toiletries for distribution at the center

· Safe House – replaced unsafe flooring at the Battered Women & Children

Safe House in Simi

· Provided a bus to transport “Special Kids” to Conejo Valley days

· Provided help to replace the carpeting at the Boys & Girls Club

· Santa Susana Train Depot 100th Birthday – provided parking and security

staff for the celebration.

· We continued our sponsorship and support of the Simi Valley High School Interact Club

print this page