Greetings from the Rotary Club of Windsor!
We have reached the halfway point for my year as President of the Rotary Club of Windsor and I am delighted to be part of such a viable, interesting, and active club. We have members involved in club events, local community service and projects, District 5130 leadership and projects, and Rotary International. This exciting and inspirational for me.
My prime goal as president this year has been for Windsor Rotarians to follow previous President Doug Williams lead to make a difference every day. I continually encourage our club through our weekly environmental moments to ponder the question “How can we inspire action for our grandchildren’s environmental future?”. Tackling the environmental crisis of plastic and climate change is a monumental task and one of the leading issues of our time. What is more important than leaving a planet where our children can survive and thrive? I believe Rotarians with education and awareness are capable of accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks and together we can make a profound difference for our future generations.
I am proud that our club chose the Russian Riverkeepers Arundo Donax removal project as the beneficiary of our district grant funding. This is a highly invasive, water hungry (5 million gallons/acre of infestation) and highly flammable plant growing along the Russian River. Removing it will allow the river habitat to thrive and further protect our local communities from the dangers of wildfires. This project encourages collaboration with local community members and Rotarians working side by side in the great outdoors.
Peace is at the cornerstone of Rotary’s mission. Our club along with the Veterans for Peace has provided peace poles for each school in our district. We hope that these poles and the messages of peace at the dedication ceremonies remind our young people that there are many people working hard so they can live without being frightened and worried. Our goal is to convey that everyone has a right to a safe and happy life, free of war, violence, suffering due to environmental degradation, and free from bullying. Peace means joy, kindness, caring, and helping others generously.
The Rotary Club of Windsor is proud to host a vibrant and active Interact Club at Windsor High School. They have about 30 members who are bright, caring, hardworking current and future leaders. They participate in many of our club activities such as community projects and fundraisers in addition to initiating their own activities and weekly meetings. They recently worked very hard to fully lead one of our Rotary Club meetings and did a great job. These young people represent the best of the upcoming generation and inspire me to do more and do better.
Sadly, we experienced the passing of our immediate Past President Doug Williams. Doug was an engaged and involved member of our club and he was also very proud of his decades of work in the fire service. Doug helped create commemorative coins to honor the first responders who saved our beautiful town of Windsor from the devastating Kincade fire. Doug received a coin just days before his passing. He also helped design a memorial to be placed at Foothill Park where the fire fighters held the line. This memorial will be placed and dedicated in the spring of 2025.
Our club is looking forward to our big fundraiser for the year called “An Evening in Seville”. We have learned a great deal about food insecurity in our community and have chosen “Mission: Bridge the Hunger Gap” as our theme this year. Our primary beneficiaries will include Meals on Wheels (MOW) and Food for Thought. MOW operates in communities throughout the United States to address senior hunger and isolation. Our club will provide the funding to add at least 10 seniors in our own community from the waiting list. In addition to funding, members of our club will volunteer to deliver food and check on the well-being of isolated seniors. These visits often include checking on pets, provide much needed socialization opportunities among many other things.
Food for Thought fosters health and healing with food and compassion. They provide free weekly medically tailored groceries, including fresh produce, healthy proteins, nutritional supplements, and vitamins, medically tailored prepared meals and custom meals. Each household can select groceries and meals based, not only on medical needs, but also personal and cultural preferences and nutrition counseling. There are many other services provided by Food for Thought. We, as a club, are particularly drawn to the Full Belly Program which offers medically tailored groceries and meals for expecting clients and their household, continuing until the baby reaches 3 months of age. Our beneficiaries are chosen by a committee following extensive community outreach. Our fundraiser will support the primary choices as well as many smaller requests.
Our club members are engaged with so many things such as an annual Bell Manor senior lunch, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, and many community service activities and causes. Our meetings include a wide range of speakers as well as fun and touching moments. Social activities are important to our club as we do really like each other. Rotarians often say that they join for the community service but stay for the friendships. Guests are encouraged to visit our club any Tuesday morning at 7:15 at Charlie’s Grill.
There is so much more to say about the wonderful Rotary Club of Windsor. Our club is full of an impressive group of Rotary leaders, past district governors and presidents, and current and past district leaders. I am extremely proud of our members and the tremendous contributions we all make in our communities at home and abroad.
Should you be in the area, please come visit us at Charlie’s Restaurant at 7:15 am on Tuesday mornings!!
– Barbara McChesney