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COMMUNITY SERVICES 1. Youth Sponsorships The Barstow Rotary club proudly sponsors numerous local youth sports and activities, including Little League, softball, karate, Boys Scouts and Girls Scouts, Miss Barstow Pageant contestant, Toys 4 Tots, Boys & Girls Club, Police Activities League, Christmas Cops for Kids, high school events and activities and much more. 2. Kids Care Fair
3. “Drive Safely” Signs The Barstow Rotary club provides the community with free large, reflectorized street signs which remind drivers to drive safely and protect our children. The signs are placed near schools, parks, clubs, etc., where children congregate.
4. Highway Litter Removal The Barstow Rotary club sponsors litter removal from Interstate 15 in Barstow.
5. Literacy Sponsorships Each year, the Barstow Rotary club sponsors the school district’s Dr. Seuss Birthday party, donates hundreds of books to the school district through the L.A. Times “Reading by 9” program and is a local sponsor of Newspaper's In Education which places free newspapers in local schools. 6. Dictionary Project The Barstow Rotary Club undertakes a project to place a free dictionary in the hands of every Barstow third grader in the fall of 2004. One woman starting in her garage created a program that enriches thousands of lives across the United States, Jan Jeffus told Barstow Rotary members recently.
Now Jeffus said she'd like to apply some of that magic in Barstow. Jeffus introduced the Dictionary Project, started by Annie Plummer in 1992. Plummer started in her garage in Savannah, Georgia, with an idea to provide dictionaries to all students in her community so that the children could enjoy the benefits of a large vocabulary. The program quickly grew nationwide. Just after Plummer's death, her friend Mary French had expanded the program to include more than 17,000 students.
In 2003, the program spread to all but three states in the United States. Since its inception, more than 1.25 million children have received a dictionary from volunteers who have participated in the Dictionary Project. The Dictionary Project is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization designed to raise money to provide a dictionary for third grade students. The goal of this program is to help teachers who want to see all of their students leave at the end of the year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers. A dictionary is an essential tool for a quality education. A child cannot do his or her best work without a dictionary.
The Barstow Rotary Club at its board meeting in April 2004 decided to purchase a dictionary through this program for every third grade student in Barstow Unified School District for the school year starting in fall 2004. 7. Donation of United Way Building and Upgrades The Barstow Club of Rotary International dedicated the Mojave Valley United Way building in honor of Joe Gee for his 45 years of devoted service to the Rotary Club of Barstow, Calif. The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony, taking place at the 210 E. Williams site at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999. “For 45 years, Joe Gee has been, and continues to be, the true embodiment of the Rotary motto—Service above Self,” said Paul Courtney, Barstow Rotary President for 1999. “We wanted to permanently honor one of our Rotarian members through the club’s donation of the building and $30,000 to the Mojave Valley United Way. The Barstow Rotary Board could not think of a better person to honor than Joe Gee,” added Courtney. Joe Gee is a current member and past-president (1962-63) of the Barstow Rotary Club and is a long-time Barstow-area businessman.
In addition to the donation of the building, the Barstow Rotary Club has pledged an additional $30,000 to the Mojave Valley United Way. “We will present the Mojave Valley United Way with the first $5,000 at the dedication ceremony,” said Courtney. “The local club will donate another $10,000 over the next six months and Rotary District 5300 will provide a matching grant of $15,000,” added Courtney. “The donation of the building was a God-send,” said Patricia Moser, Mojave Valley United Way president for 1999. “Rotary’s generous donation has allowed us to be even more effective in meeting our mission. The money we were paying for rent at our previous location can now be returned back to the community through our various agency organizations,” added Moser. She further stated that Rotary's pledge of $30,000 is earmarked toward remodeling costs, including paving the parking lot and landscaping the grounds. 8. Rotary Centennial Park
2005 was Rotary International's 100th anniversary. As part of its centennial celebration, RotaryInternational challenged each club to accomplish a centennial project during that landmark year. The Rotary Club of Barstowchose to construct a community gateway sign at its Centennial Park in Barstow (corner of Barstow Rd. and Virginia Way). The park was originally constructed by the club in recognition of Barstow's Centennial year, 1986. The club's gateway signwill nowserve as the model for other city gateway signs to come. VOCATIONAL/YOUTH SERVICES 1. Interact Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 14-18. Interact clubs at Barstow High School and Central High School are sponsored by the Barstow Rotary club, which provides support and guidance, but Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting. Club membership varies greatly. Clubs can be single-gender or mixed, as well as large and small. The membership base can be drawn from the student body of a single school or from two or more schools from the same community. Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through projects, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs. And, in the process, Interactors develop leadership skills and learn the value of hard work. 2. George R. Hensel Ethics Essay Contest Rotary International District 5300 George R. Hensel Ethics Essay Contest is designed to challenge high school students to analyze ethical issues and concerns confronting them in today's complex world. Because our fellow Rotarian, businessman, and philanthropist, George R. Hensel, Ph.D., privately funds this contest, there are no entry fees to pay. Students submit essays to their local Rotary Clubs and present their essays at a club meeting. Winners at the club level advance to the Group Level and the winners at that level compete at the District Conference. The top three winners at each level are awarded cash prizes and the winner at the District Conference receives $1000. 3. Dan Stover Memorial Music Contest Musically talented high school students each year participate in a Rotary District 5300 program entitled the Dan Stover Memorial Music Scholarship, and winners qualify for educational awards that enable them to further their studies at an accredited college, university, or music conservatory upon high school graduation. Who was Dan Stover and Why Is the Scholarship Named after Him The worlds of education and music transected in the life of Dan Stover, a secondary education professional whose musical talents were shared with his family, his community, and certainly with Rotary, at both the local and District levels. Dan Stover was an educator who always placed the student first, and his obvious respect for his students transformed the lives of countless young people. He shared his love of learning with the young, providing them with a positive role model for structuring their studies and their lives. Dan Stover passed away shortly following the 1987 District Conference at which his friend and follow Alhambra Rotarian, Dr. Tim Keen Siu, became District Governor. Dan was noticeably ill at the conference, but he played out his heart for Dr. Tim and others, knowing that the show must go on. How the Scholarship Program Began The Rotary Club of Alhambra, in the year following Dan Stover's death, established a Music Scholarship Program and Competition in Dan's name. The program was proposed, organized, and championed by new Rotarian Christine Montan who, as Alhambra's first woman Rotarian, quickly recognized and appreciated the talent and effectiveness of Dan Stover as a Rotarian and as a person. Under Rotarian Montan's leadership, the Dan Stover Memorial Music Scholarship "graduated" into a District program in the following year, and the rest is history. A whole generation of talented, young musicians has had the opportunity, in the name of Dan Stover, to compete against their peers, and earn funds to further their musical education. 4. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotary's training program for young leaders, emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth. Are you ready to: Share an inspiring experience with tomorrow's future leaders? Mentor youth to further develop their talents and abilities? Help youth accomplish personal goals through teamwork 5. Four-Way Speech Contest The annual Four-Way Speech Contest involves and benefits high school aged youth. The specific goals of the contest are:
6. Teen Leadership Camp (TLC) Rotary TLC is a leadership training program for students who will be 8th Graders during the upcoming school year. It is sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Rotary District 5300. Students will interact and participate with 144 other outstanding 8th Graders coming from throughout the San Gabriel Valley, the West End of the Inland Empire, the High Desert and Southern Nevada. CLUB SERVICES 1. Rose Parade Float Decoration Members of the Barstow Rotary Club and Interact Club will be decorating Rotary International’s Rose Parade float on December 26, 2004, 1-6 p.m. "Family Tree - a Century of Service is the theme of your Rotary International float for the 2005 Rose Parade to be held on Saturday, January 1, 2005, in Pasadena, California. This theme and design were selected to recognize the service of the Rotary family throughout the world during the past 100 years as Rotary International celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2005 and begins its second century of service to the world community. The 2005 Tournament of Roses Parade theme is Celebrate Family. As in past years, the 2005 Rotary float will be funded entirely by voluntary contributions from Rotary Clubs and Rotarians throughout the United States and Canada. Rotarians and members of Rotaract and Interact clubs donate their time and effort to decorate the float. Construction of the 2005 Rotary float will begin in spring 2004 and the float will be ready for decoration in November 2004 A Rotary float has been entered in every Tournament of Roses Parade since 1980. Several have won awards. Over 425 million people view the Rose Parade each year on television, with an estimated U.S. television audience of over 90 million people and an estimated international television audience of more than 325 million in over 100 countries. The Pasadena Police Department estimates that approximately one million spectators view the Rose Parade in person each year. Another 200,000 view the floats at the Tournament of Roses Post Parade: A Showcase of Floats viewing area on January 1st after the parade and for one to two days thereafter.
INTERNATIONAL
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The Rotary Club of Barstow sponsors the annual Kids Care Fair in Barstow. The health fair provides free immunizations and health screenings to more than 500 family members each year. The annual Kids Care Fair is one of six yearly immunization clinics in the Barstow area to which the Barstow Rotary Club and Interact Club members donate their time.
