District Newsletter
September 1, 2020

Basic Education and Literacy Month
 
Welcome to Rotary District 5240
Rotary District 5240 consists of over 3000 members in 71 Rotary Clubs, nine Rotaract (young professional) Clubs, and 58 Interact (high school) clubs. The District spans four counties in Central California: San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, and Kern County. Our clubs are active in all aspects of Rotary,  including community and international service, youth programs, and fellowship activities.

DISTRICT GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE

September Message from DG Deb Linden
Dear Fellow Rotarians,

As I finish my first two months visiting clubs virtually, I am blown away by the creativity and adaptability our clubs have demonstrated during these challenging times. Despite the impact of COVID-19, our clubs are continuing to serve their communities, getting creative in their fundraising, and recruiting new members. Rotary truly Opens Opportunities and you should all be immensely proud!
 
District Conference Registration Now Open!
Our District 5240 Virtual District Conference is November 6-8, 2020, and registration is now open. You can find more information and a registration link at http://www.rotary5240dc.com
Here are some highlights:
  • Friday evening opening celebration: Party for Polio! Featuring Jim Messina of Loggins & Messina, Buffalo Springfield, and Poco
  • Saturday and Sunday morning General Sessions with incredible keynote presenters.
  • Saturday Breakout Sessions – choose your own training opportunity.
  • Virtual Project Expo
  • Networking, virtual meetups, and more!
  • Only $25 for Rotarians & guests, $10 for Rotaractors, and free for Interact members or youth under age 18.
Promote your Business!
Did you know that the District has a place where you can promote your business for other members to find? Well, we do! It is our online District 5240 Rotarian Business Network where you can add your business and where members can search for Rotarian-run businesses in our District. Let’s support each other! Go to https://www.rotary5240.biz for more info and to add/find a business.

Community Service Opportunity during COVID:
Are you or your club looking for a community service activity you can do safely even with the COVID restrictions? The California Coastal Commission has an opportunity for you (and you don’t need to live near an ocean!). The Commission has designated every Saturday in September as Coastal Clean Up Day in your own Neighborhood. For safety reasons, there are no large, centrally organized cleanup sites this year. Instead, cleanups will be self-guided and close to home. Cleaning your neighborhoods, local parks, streets, and storm drains helps protect our coast. Trash travels through storm drains, creeks, and rivers to become beach and ocean pollution. Help clean the beach by picking up litter in your community with your household. And if Saturdays don't work for you, don't let that stop you! You can clean up any day, any time. Go to https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html for more information, including a “Most Unusual Item” contest.
 
Step Up for Polio!
Don’t forget…we’ve launched our District-wide Step Up for Polio project, a way you can raise funds for PolioPlus through a personal fitness challenge. Click on the Step Up for Polio flyer in this newsletter for more information. Let’s all get moving and Step Up for Polio!

Public Image Grants Still Available:
There are still funds available to clubs for Public Image grants from the District 5240 Charitable Foundation. Have I piqued your interest? Go to https://www.rotarydistrict5240.org/sitepage/district-public-image-grants to learn more.
 
Finally, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Past District Governor Loretta Butts’ husband, John Butts, passed away on August 19, 2020, of health complications related to cancer. Loretta was our District Governor in 2014-2015 and John was her "official driver" for her club visits and her #1 cheerleader, not only during her DG year, but throughout their lives together. Loretta and John were married for 25 years and friends for much longer. John was a generous and giving soul and would support and encourage Loretta in whatever she undertook. John’s wish was to be cremated and no services will be held. If you would like to reach out to Loretta with a card or note, you can mail them to her at 7400 Pinal Ave., Atascadero, CA 93422
 
Take care and stay safe,
Deb Linden
District Governor 2020-21

DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS

DISTRICT ROTARY FOUNDATION

District Rotary Foundation Message
Our District Rotary Foundation Chair is PDG Frank Ortiz. Every month he will have a message regarding current foundation news and summarize foundation contributions. It's a great way to get updated on TRF.
 
View the current message by clicking the button below!
UPCOMING DISTRICT EVENTS
2020 Virtual District 5240 Conference
Nov 06, 2020 – Nov 08, 2020 3:00 PM
 
KernYES! Youth Empowerment Summit
Feb 27, 2021
 
View entire list

CLUB EVENTS & FUNDRAISERS

Add Your Events to the Newsletter!
This year, we will incorporate your club events and projects into the newsletter! We send the newsletter at the beginning of each month and will include events for that month.
 
Click the button below to send us your flyer, brief discription, and best link for the event.
 
 
DISTRICT STORIES
RC of Simi Sunset Donates to Make-A-Wish
The Rotary Club of Simi Sunset was asked by Make-A-Wish to support a local Simi Valley resident. Joey fell into a swimming pool when he was 18 months old. The accident dramatically changed his and his family's lives. Now at the age of 15, he suffers from a nervous system disorder which has left him confined to a wheelchair. He can communicate through a tablet and with smiles and noises. His wish... An adaptive swing! Many wish kids avoid large groups during COVID-19 as it could put their health at risk. Having this swing would allow him to enjoy being outside with his family.
 
 
Read more...
RC of Moorpark Community Service Project
The Rotary Club of Moorpark gathered donations and purchased badly needed school supplies in support of students at the Moorpark Food Pantry Plus. Although they followed physical distancing guidelines, it provided them with an opportunity to be social as they filled 300 bags with school supplies. It was a fun community service project that made a big impact on the lives of their students.  Club President, Kelly Best always says, "many hands make light work." They all look forward to another social gathering like this one very soon!
Santa Ynez Rotary Clubs Donate $33,500
The COVID-19 virus has altered life for all of us. Many residents have found themselves unable to provide basic needs for themselves and their family. Local nonprofits have stepped up and are working hard to meet the huge surge in demand. However, the need is great with the increase in demand coupled with the loss of several nonprofits main revenue stream; thrift stores. These organizations are struggling.

The four Rotary Clubs in the Santa Ynez Valley; Buellton, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Solvang, have united together contributing a total of $33,500 to local nonprofit organizations. The nonprofits selected are doing outreach in our community feeding hundreds of people daily with prepared meals and produce bags. These include home bound seniors and children out of school. Not only prepared meals are being provided, but help getting medications delivered, sewn masks and other needs. Our nonprofits are doing an incredible job by collaborating to be sure there is no gap in service to our community.
 
Read more...
RC of Cambria Delivers Food and More
The Rotary Club of Cambria recently purchased and delivered bags of cereal, juice, canned fruit, snack bars and other snacks to over 90 families identified as being in need. They were also made aware of the concern about the children in low income families falling behind in school due to the difficulties of distance learning. Many of these children are in households with adults that have little or no education and cannot provide their children with the educational assistance needed. They were able to purchase 186 age appropriate activity books and games to give them a head start for the school year. These were delivered along with the bags of food.
Message from Polio Plus Chair, Jim Lewis
Dear Fellow Rotarians in District 5240,

As most of you know eradicating Polio from the face of the earth is Rotary International’s #1 objective. In 1985 that objective began. At that time there were 126 countries in the world endemic with 3 types of polio. 350,000 children and adults were paralyzed with one of the 3 types every year. Over the past 30 plus years, through the very hard work of those countries, Rotary, WHO, CDC, UNICEF and in 2007 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we can celebrate that all but 2 of those countries are polio free. The last countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only ones with wild polio cases. The good news is this week we have seen zero cases of Polio in the world. And even much better news Africa has been declared by WHO as completely Polio Free…this is such fantastic news, I felt I had to share it with all of you. Check out the links to Rotary and Time Magazine's articles:

 
Read more...
Add Your Stories to the Newsletter!
We want your stories!  We send the newsletter at the beginning of each month and would like to include your favorite Rotary projects, events, and fundraisers. This helps spread the word about Rotary and provides ideas for other clubs.
 
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