People enjoyed ice cream on a stick as they roamed the various community booths

Police Chief Shane Palsgrove with some attendees at the National Night Out Aug. 1. Photo courtesy city of Morgan Hill

By Robert Airoldi

Robert Airoldi

This year’s National Night Out held at the Civic Center Plaza Aug. 1 was a wonderful time for those attending. The evening’s temperature was absolutely perfect for the event — unlike the heatwave last year. Hundreds of people attended. Families interacted with friendly firefighters and police officers — with plenty of kids getting their photos taken with the first responders. People enjoyed ice cream on a stick as they roamed the various community booths, learning about services and nonprofit organizations in town.

MHPD Chief Shane Palsgrove described National Night Out as a community-building campaign that promotes partnerships in policing. It lets officers build relationships with local residents to create a culture of trust and safety.

“We are grateful for those who were able to join us this year and hope to see the rest of you sometime throughout the year,” Palsgrove said. “We genuinely appreciate and value the support and relationships we receive from all of you.”

He also encourages residents to invite the department’s Crime Prevention Team to their neighborhood to learn more about crime trends and safety tips and share with the police their concerns on public safety.

Photo courtesy IASC
Volunteers for IASC distributed 150 backpacks for students.

The Indian Association of South Santa Clara County’s Circle of Giving, founded and led by Executive Director Poonam Chabra, successfully completed another back-to-school drive, distributing 150 backpacks and school supplies to families selected by Morgan Hill Unified School District community liaisons during the two-hour event.

On July 22, Circle of Giving volunteers were greeted by a line of cars at 8:45 a.m., more than an hour before the distribution was scheduled to begin. Thanks to their experience from previous years, they had a well-planned and orderly movement of vehicles, with the distribution starting promptly at 10 a.m. Within an hour, all the families who arrived had driven away happily with new backpacks filled with school supplies.

Chabra said a few backpacks left over at the end were sent to the school district to be distributed to those who were unable to attend the event on that day.

“The event was led by both Ashini Parikh and Vaishnavi Muralidharan, wonderful and enthusiastic volunteers who made time to pull off a flawless event despite their busy schedules,” Chabra said.

Circle of Giving is also very grateful to their key partners, the city of Morgan Hill for their grant, and MHUSD and YMCA for connecting families in need with this program.

Rotary Club of Morgan Hill is seeking local organizations to apply by Sept. 30 for grants to help fund philanthropic projects or programs.

Grants providing financial assistance to help organizations fulfill their missions are offered in two categories, “Community Grants” and “Hearts of Rotary.”

For Community Grants, the club will fund tangible items that provide enduring benefit to many, such as technology, furniture or equipment. Organizations are not required to be designated nonprofits, but their project must have a specific community benefit.

Hearts of Rotary grants are limited to 501(c)3 nonprofits or other IRS tax exempt organizations and must be used for community benefit, and may be used to cover program operating expenses, such as staffing, facility expenses and non-tangible items.

In general, successful requests have focused on projects or programs that benefit youth, seniors, education or community in the Morgan Hill area, as defined by the boundaries of the Morgan Hill Unified School District.

Applications and details can be found at www.portal.clubrunner.ca/6773/Stories/grant-applications-now-being-accepted-from-philanthropic-organizations-serving-the-morgan-hill-community.

Talab Talat Sabla

Congratulations to Talab Talat Sabla (16) an incoming junior at Ann Sobrato High School who is being recognized for superior academic achievement by the National Society of High School Scholars. Talab attended Barrett Elementary, and Britton Middle School. He was recognized for superior academic achievement – 3.8 GPA – and for his leadership and overall academic achievement.

Talab started working at the age 14 at the local Baskin Robbins on Cochrane Road. He is currently an associate at the local In-N-Out. Most importantly, Talab has not forgotten about the larger goal of becoming a computer science engineer.