Rotary International Convention sets Guinness record for world’s largest book drive

This story just went out to our local press



Rotary International Convention sets Guinness record for world’s largest book drive

How many donated books does it take to set a world’s record? Rotary club members from around the world found out during the Rotary International convention at the L.A. Convention Center that ran from June 15-18.

At the invitation of the Southern California and Southern Nevada Rotary clubs hosting the convention, many of the nearly 20,000 registrants from more than 140 countries brought children’s books representing their home cultures and languages for the Wide World of Books project. This international book drive, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times’ Reading by 9 program, aims to gather 250,000 books to be donated to public school students in grades K-3 throughout the region, where studies show too many children read below grade level.

The Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club and RB Sunrise Rotary Club were both active participants, and donated well over 1,100 books from just their two clubs. Other area Rotary clubs were equally energetic in their participation. Members of the public were also encouraged to drop off books at the Convention Centers during the convention itself.

While final confirmation is still pending, organizers of the event are confident that the quarter of a million books gathered in the week’s time will qualify for a Guinness World Record. An adjudicator from Guinness was on hand to certify the results. Rotary members unable to make the trip to Los Angeles have also been invited to contribute through a “virtual book drive”.

During the convention, a symbolic “mountain of books” welcomed convention registrants and members of the public in the atrium of the Los Angeles Convention Center, where Rotary members were available to read to local schoolchildren.

“It is symbolic that the mountain of books was built atop the world map in the atrium’s floor design,” says local Rotary leader Ingo Werk, who chaired the project. He noted that nearly 100 languages are spoken throughout the diverse Los Angeles Unified School District.

The book drive is just one example of the hundreds of literacy-related projects supported by Rotary clubs worldwide. “Literacy is crucial in determining a person’s overall academic, professional, and personal success,” says Werk.

The annual Rotary convention is the humanitarian service organization’s most important meeting of the year, giving members from around the world an opportunity to plan service projects, share success stories and renew acquaintances. It is often described as a “mini-United Nations” due to its international and cultural diversity.







Rotary International’s Mountain of Books

thank you steve ad

All kinds of stuff happening at this time of year, including:

1) A thank you ad placed in the RB Sun, thanking Steve for all his hard work and welcoming Kendra as the incoming president

2) Gordy Erickson was named our Rotarian of the year (boy, does HE work hard as a fundraiser, organizer and public face of our club!)

3) The '07 disc of the year in pictures came out, and our club is represented with about 20 shots (WHEW!)

4) The annual convention took place in Los Angeles (press release about our contributions to the mile high pile of books going out separately)

5) New members joining our club

6) Our club has been nominated for best publicity of RI on a worldwide basis (WOOHOO!)

7) We're going to start getting involved with more electronic media, including an enewsletter, Facebook, and other blogs besides this one.

8) I've been invited to come speak at my fourth PETS (I wonder what the record is for most consecutive PETS being attended. Hmmmm...)

Went to the District dinner on Tuesday and had a chance to see a lot of old friends, and I'll celebrate my 4th anniversary with Rotary on Tuesday. KEWL!

Kendra takes over as president

This press release just went out

RB SUNRISE ROTARY ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT

The Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club has elected Kendra Jeffcoat as club president for the Rotary year beginning July 1, 2008. A professor at SDSU, Kendra has been a member of Rotary International for over 12 years.

“It’s not often that one gets a chance to lead an award-winning organization that’s the caliber of the RB Sunrise Rotary” she says proudly, adding “I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for years!”

A long-time resident of Rancho Bernardo, Kendra is a survivor of the Witch Creek fires, which destroyed her home. Despite this setback, she was out and about in the community within days of the evacuation, looking for ways to help those less fortunate than she and her family. “Nobody was hurt” she says gratefully ”and things can be replaced. This experience reminded me of the importance of appreciating the ability to wake up every morning.”

It also taught her about the value of simple things, like clean water and a warm blanket. “Rotary today has a positive impact on hundreds of millions of lives around the world” she says, observing how the efforts of her group in RB can change the lives of people all over the world. “It is both an honor and a privilege to be asked to lead this fine group of community volunteers and professionals” she said of her election. “I firmly believe that no matter how long a person has been in Rotary, they can always learn more, do more and gain more from active involvement in their club’s activities and programs.”

During the upcoming year, Kendra will continue to emphasize the concepts of giving back to the community for which she has become so well known. “Our outreach programs will continue, both locally and anywhere around the globe where they’re needed. As in the past, the world community should know the RB Sunrise Rotary will be there to help provide shelter, medical assistance, youth exchange opportunities, and whatever else it takes to make even a single life more rewarding.”

Kendra and her husband Jay recently returned from Rotary International’s 99th annual convention in Los Angeles, and look forward to attending next year’s convention in Birmingham, England. The Rotary International theme for the upcoming year is “Make Dreams Real”, with a special focus on youth. Given Kendra’s background as an educator, she is undoubtedly the perfect match for helping to teach north county youth how they can use the Rotary vehicle for making their own dreams come true.

For additional information on the club visit the website at http://www.rbsunrise.org/

Kendra Jeffcoat and her dog Trevor stand at the site of their home just after the Witch Creek Fire swept through RB.

Kids Attending Rotary

My daughter attended my Rotary meeting this morning. She's 12, and loves the attention of being the only child in the room.

She'd come once each month if I allowed it, but I think three times each year is sufficient. She gets to enjoy the meeting, has made some friends in the room, and gets good experience at working a room full of professional people.

She also participates when we build houses in Mexico. And she helped clean up the fire site in Escondido last month. She'll even be on the cover of the community newspaper next month in front of all the Rotarians who were working at the Sikes Adobe site.

Today she ws the mystery guest. She acts embarassed - hey, she's 12, let's not forget - but I believe she gets a kick out of it.

This kid will be a Rotarian when she's older. She's already talking about Interact and Rotoract, and I'm told she should explore RYLA when she's a junior in High School. I'll have to put it on my list of things to do.

Meanwhile she's amassing experience and building her resume. Good stuff.

giving money to kids korps

Well, I couldn't make it to the annual convention being held in LA, even though it was just 100 miles up the road from me. There's WAY too much going on in my life, and I just couldn't spare the four days. SIGH! But in the interests of doing my part, I instead sent out this press release.

RB Sunrise Rotary Helps Kids Korps Open RB Branch

Finishing up their fiscal year on a high note, the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary announced a $2,500 gift to Kids Korps of Solana Beach.

Dedicated to teaching children and teenagers the meaning of community service, Kids Korps helps a community’s youth develop leadership skills while introducing perspective on how every individual can make a real difference in the world.

“Rotary International is all about finding ways to help those in need – be it locally or worldwide.” says Rotary club president Steve Sayler. “In Kids Korps we’ve found a group that is built around the idea of getting kids – from 5 to 18 – to volunteer to make things a bit better.”

Some of the projects Kids Korps volunteers can expect to be involved with include:

• Serving meals to the homeless at soup kitchens
• Painting over graffiti
• Building shelters for homeless families
• Planting trees

“For these kids, this is a chance to get started immediately, helping themselves by helping others” says Dr. Kendra Jeffcoat, an educator and president-elect of the RB Sunrise club. “For us it’s a farm team. Because while Rotary International has RotorAct clubs at colleges and InterAct clubs in high schools, we still need a way to reach out further to those younger than the high school level.”

“We see this as a way to help instill positive values that will guide childrens’ choices throughout their lives, simultaneously strengthening their academic and social skills.” Dr. Jeffcoat continues, adding “to us, the Kids Korps philosophy of cultivating caring and compassion in children leads directly to Rotary’s 4-Way Test, which asks of everything a person thinks, says and does, the following:

• Is it the TRUTH?
• Is it FAIR to all concerned?
• Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
• Will it be BENEFICIAL to all Concerned?

We’re delighted to be in a position to help the youth at RB High School to get their chapter of Kids Korps off the ground.

More information about Kids Korps is available online at http://www.kidskorps.org/. More information about the RB Sunrise Rotary is available online at http://www.rbsunrise.org/.

From Left –RB Sunrise Rotary Community Services Director Nasrin Barbee delivers the funds necessary to start the RB High School chapter of Kids Korps to incoming senior Maddie Baca and Kids Korps organizer Veronica Baker.

Rotary Picture Disc

How cool - the Rotary in Pictures CD is out for the year 2007, and our club has about 20 photos being distributed worldwide. While I wish it was for better reasons (the Witch Creek Fire was the main impetus), it's still great from a publicity standpoint to be getting this exposure.

RB Sunrise Rotary Selects Final Abraxas Student of the Month of 2007-2008

RB Sunrise Rotary Selects Final Abraxas Student of the Month of 2007-2008

As part of its ongoing partnership with Abraxas High School, the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club announced their final Student Of The Month award for the 2007-2008 school year at this morning's breakfast meeting.

The presentation to graduating senior Amadeo Gonzales was made at the club’s weekly breakfast meeting by teacher Dave MacLeod and Rotary/Abraxas liaison Rex Teets.

“Students typically take 15 credits per quarter as a minimum towards graduation from Abraxas” explained Mr. MacLeod. “Mr. Gonzales is graduating this semester after completing a quarter in which he took 48 credits, completely of his own volition!” The announcement of Gonzales’ achievement was greeted by a standing ovation by the members of the RB Sunrise Rotary. He was also given a gift certificate and an award in honor of his achievement.

The Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary club can be found online at http://www.rbsunrise.org/.

From Left to Right – Teacher Dave MacLeod, graduating senior Amadeo Gonzales, RB Sunrise Rotarian Rex Teets.