Niles Rotary Club of Fremont
Official website of the Niles Rotary Club of Fremont, California
New Member Maria Mendoza takes an active role in Niles Rotary immediately!
Taking an active role in the communities we serve is important to Republic Services and we take pride in the partnerships fostered in Fremont. This year, Republic Services donated four cubic yards of wood chips to the Blacow Elementary School’s beautification project, sponsored by Niles Rotary.
For four years now Niles Rotarians have donated funds and their hands-on labor to help make Blacow School a better place for its students to learn. Rotarians have added classroom doors, rebuilt benches and tables, and added planting and irrigation to help beautify the playground area. This year they’ve added trees, drought tolerant plants and drip irrigation. The wood chips donated by Republic Services will be used to spread around new plants and trees.
Thank you Republic Services for your active role in our community
Together Republic Services and Niles Rotary are working together to make Fremont a beautiful place for our children to grow and learn.
Article Contributed by Paul Andrus, Niles Rotary Community Service Chair 2016-2017
Robertson High School Interact Club, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Niles (Fremont) began World Interact Week with a Nacho, Popcorn, and Cotton Candy Party supporting Bay Area Community Services for Marginal and Homeless Adults. Niles Rotarians in an effort to Keep Calm and Serve On (club motto), Serve Humanity (Rotary International motto) while Attracting the Young, Having Fun and Getting More DONE (District motto) donated funds to the Robertson Interactors and attended the event. Robertson Interactors have been working on their DDS Project for months. It began in early September with a visit to the Bay Area Community Services Wellness Center in Fremont to meet with the center clients to assess their basic needs for the upcoming winter. The clients come from various places, some are homeless (campers) and some are marginal adults. The kids, with the assistance of the Peer Counselor, held a meeting and requested the clients to fill out wish lists on small post its to be deposited in to a wish box created by the students.
The wish box was taken back to the school where as a part of their Interact club and Leadership Class they worked with their teacher and Interact advisor Paul Barry to develop a plan for purchase of the most needed items.
The students decided to create Winter Relief packets that would include reusable rain ponchos, head lamps and two pair of socks (good socks as requested by the clients). They were also able to obtain donations of toiletries from the traveling Rotarians, blanket, pillows and water bottles.
The Wellness Center had planned a Halloween Party for its clients on October 31, 2016. The Interactors along with Niles Rotarians were invited to attend. The interactors volunteered to create and facilitate a list of games, assist with set up and attend the party with the distribution of the Winter Relief Packets ending the day.
Two of the goals of World Interact Week are to engage Interactors and to inspire creativity. Sixteen Interact students attended the event. They set up, cooked a meal, made a green frothy drink, served the clients and yes ran a host of games that had everyone smiling, laughing and cheering. This club has certainly accomplished the World Interact goals as they stepped out of their comfort zone to obtain additional donations to purchase sleeping bags or blankets for this challenged group of individuals. In their enthusiasm to meet the needs of the clients at the BACS Wellness Center, the students scoured the community for additional discounts or donations. They hit the jackpot at Kohl’s in Fremont; Kohl’s staff not only attended the event but will be making a donation that will allow the students to complete their mission and ensure that clients will be a little warmer and drier in the next few months. Congratulations Robertson High School Interactors for a job well done with heart and caring.
Article Submitted by Rose Evernden-Andrade, Niles Rotary President-Elect
Niles Rotarians have a rich history in working with schools. Recently we have focused for several years in benefiting Blacow Elementary. Steve Landon has been an instrumental figure in this ongoing relationship. Being in the construction industry with JR Griffin Construction, Steve has been a natural with the work, tools and helping Niles Rotarians literally get their hands dirty, clothing smudged with paint or just plain sweaty digging holes for shrubs, trees and other things that needed to be planted.
On September 10, 2016 Niles Rotary organized a force of 50 strong, mainly composed of Rotarians, but with a show of force made by CarMax (thanks to our organizing Rotarian Josh Carlson at the YMCA). We also had Interactors and Rotoractors show up and help as well.
We replaced worn backboards for the basketball standards, painted a huge colorful map of the United States on the playground and planted somewhere between 20 – 30 trees and shrubs. It was a great project and those involved had a good time. We believe in feeding our volunteers well and provided breakfast sandwiches from the Depot Cafe (Past President Lisa’a Place) and yummy Bronco Billy’a pizza for lunch (vegetarians were catered to as well 😊). We want to thank Principal Jose Hernandez for always being there to open doors and coordinate staff to help us accomplish this project. He is a genuine pleasure to work with!
Prior to the “day” of the service project, Steve Landon, Kai Andrus and Kai’s friend helped paint and prepare the backboards by painting them.
And a couple weeks after the event, Steve returned with Rich Godfrey and myself (Paul Andrus, Community Service Chair) to install a drip watering system so our plants can survive this sunny Mediterranean climate.
Thank you to all your wonderful volunteers who take time on your busy weekends and from you busy lives to make Fremont a more beautiful place. You do make a difference!
Paul Andrus, Community Service Chair
Music to my ears, that’s what it was. Richard D. King – our song-leader, the man who loves dogs, friend to leaders worldwide, and Past President of Rotary International – on Thursday, September 15, declared that Niles Rotary is, “In my opinion, the best Rotary club in the world.” Now, I have been known to make that claim myself, but truthfully, I can count on one hand the number of Rotary clubs that I can compare. But for Rick King to make the claim . . . well, he has visited clubs throughout the world. So, it must be true. And the reason we are the best club is because of YOU! We have the best Rotarians in the world, which is how we have the best Rotary Club in the world. So, thank you, friends, for all that you do for Niles Rotary Club.
Rick King’s talk was entitled “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” and it touched on the subject of Vocational Service in Rotary. The lesson I learned from the presentation was that even though we are all in Rotary to make a difference in the world, an important collateral benefit is that Rotary Clubs also serve Rotarians. By belonging to the same club, we are in a position to help each other succeed professionally and socially. As the Rotary year progresses, I hope that we will do more in the club to promote Vocational Service and showcase our members’ professional accomplishments.
Where did September go? All I know is that we got a lot accomplished. The service project at Blacow Elementary School on September 10 was a huge success. Thank you, Paul Andrus and Steve Landon, for heading up the planning for this event. We had roughly 25 Nilesians, a handful of Interactors from Fremont Christian Schools, members of the Rotaract Club, and a group from Carmax, who came to us courtesy of the YMCA (thank you, Josh Carlson). By the conclusion of the project, we had planted foliage and trees, spread a ton of wood chips, replaced a handful of basketball back-boards, and painted a beautiful map of the United States on the playground. It was great to have Jim Morris, the Superintendent of Fremont Unified, and Jose Hernandez, the principal of Blacow Elementary, join us for the project. At one point, I walked past them both and they were stringing a net on a basketball hoop together. I know that Jim and Jose, and all the students at Blacow Elementary, truly appreciate our efforts that Saturday morning.
September also saw the launch of the Haggis Challenge, this year’s drive to grow the membership of Niles Rotary. This challenge comes complete with its own mascot – Hamish the Haggis – courtesy of the boundlessly talented Jeff Schinkel. As membership chairs, Chuck Canada and Rick Hood, tell us, the best way to attract new members is to invite friends and acquaintances to have lunch with us at a club meeting. So, please support the membership drive and don’t let your teammates down: bring a friend to lunch! Remember, if you and your teammates work hard enough, you could find yourself on the winning team, eating haggis and barbeque at the President’s Manse in lovely Oakland. And that is no joke!
As October rolls in this weekend, I encourage all of us to participate in the some of the many opportunities the club offers for service and fellowship. As District Governor Jeff Orth noted during his Governor’s visit, we are a busy club. So consider participating in the Candle Lighter’s Ghost House project on October 1 and please support the Hot Hot Chili Pepper Challenge that our very own Daren Young is championing. Your short-term pain will lead to long-term gains in the community. As always, my advice to you is to “Keep Calm and Serve On!”
In Rotary,
President Angus