MH Rotary donates $20K to local organizations
Published in the April 30 – May 13, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
Rotarian Peter Anderson, left, is congratulated by club President Brad Ledwith for receiving a citation for meritorious service.
Several thousand people in a poor neighborhood of Lagos, Nigeria, can now enjoy “disease-free drinking water” thanks to financial aid provided by members of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill. The service club worked with other Rotary clubs in the South Valley region and the Rotary Foundation to raise $40,000 to drill six wells two years ago to provide safe water for underserved residents in the West African nation.
Local geologist Peter Anderson, a member of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill and the club’s incoming president, recently returned from a two-week trip to visit Nigeria to check the results of the project. While in Africa, he also toured nearby Ghana where a similar Rotary-sponsored clean water project is underway.
“The people there often have to get water that usually comes with bugs that make them sick,” Anderson said. “Tens of thousands of children die from drinking the (bad) water. It’s so simple with five to ten thousand dollars to dig a water well and provide life for thousands of people.”
Selflessly helping make life better for others is what the Morgan Hill Rotary club’s more than 100 members do best. That quality was demonstrated at the club’s weekly meeting April 23 when the service group presented $20,000 in grant awards to local schools and nonprofit organizations for special projects. Recipients included Morgan Hill Pony Baseball for a Britton Middle School scoreboard refurbishment, El Toro Youth Center for 80 chairs, Community Solutions for furnishings in a family therapy room, Paradise Valley Elementary School and El Toro Elementary School for computer equipment, and the Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group for a shade structure at the dog park.
“Morgan Hill Rotary is composed of community and business leaders throughout our community,” Anderson said. “And they are creative thinkers, thinking outside the box, looking for something a little bit better to do that will help all elements of our community.”
When he takes over as president in July, Anderson will seek during his one-year term “to do more for those who have less in our community.”
Rotary Club member Rosy Bergin joined in 2004 because she was impressed by the caliber of local people who join together to raise the quality of life in the local community — as well as communities elsewhere. Before she learned more about the club, she had a stereotype image of the Rotary being a “men’s club.” She was impressed when she found members were a diverse group who share a passion for community involvement. The club membership is made up of about 60 percent men and 40 percent women. They come together at noon every Wednesday at the Community and Cultural Center to have a one-and-a-half hour lunchtime meeting in a spirit of fun camaraderie.
“People are attracted to join this Rotary Club because they know our club has a track record of doing really good things,” Bergin said. “What the club accomplishes kind of ripples through the community. And that attracts good people to work on these projects, so it’s kind of like a cycle.”
The club does fundraising for its projects through a number of activities and events. At the lunch meetings, a “sheriff” fines members for silly reasons, such as Chamber of Commerce board chair Rich Firato getting fined $50 twice for appearing on the front page of Morgan Hill Life. (No doubt, the mention of his name in this story will result in another fine for Firato.)
Another fund-raising endeavor is the Rotary’s Dazzle: Celebration of Giving in Style gala, a gourmet dinner event that will be held June 13 at the Clos LaChance Winery. A Rotary golf tournament held in October also helps raise thousands of dollars in funding. Club causes the money goes to include purchasing dictionaries for every third grader in the Morgan Hill school district and putting on the annual BikeFest in partnership with Specialized Bicycle Components.
Rotary Club of Morgan Hill’s president Brad Ledwith, a member for 15 years, emphasizes that club members are people in the community who care about the quality of life for others.
“If you look at the leaders who are in Morgan Hill, they’re in the Rotary Club,” he said. “And what I mean by that is, you take business leaders, nonprofit leaders, you just take any community organization that you’re familiar with, and there’s a Rotarian involved. And what’s so neat about it is that the Rotary Club’s members come together to give back to the community.”
Interested in becoming a member? Visit www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/SitePages/SitePage.aspx?cid=6773&pid=56671
