Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego Weekly Announcements July 26, 2005

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Next Meeting Our next general meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 at 6:30 pm at Kansas City BBQ, 610 W. Market Street, Downtown San Diego. We'll go to Cafe Sevilla after our meeting for salsa & sangria! More information below. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Salsa & Sangria ... at Cafe Sevilla August 02 (Tuesday) After our general meeting Cafe Sevilla, 555 4th Avenue Join us after the general Rotaract meeting on Tuesday, August 2nd at Cafe Sevilla in the Gaslamp (555 4th Avenue). Cafe Sevilla has won awards for Best Dining Ambiance, Best Spanish Tapas and more. We will be heading out together to enjoy the music of the flamenco guitarists, grub on some Spanish tapas and to catch the tail end of the salsa dance lessons! Cover is $8. Watch for an evite or email Felix to RSVP.

New Community Service Chair Please join us in extending a big welcome to our new Community Service Chair, Miguel A. Moron! Miguel has signed on to join the 2005-2006 Rotaract Club of Downtown San Diego board. He is excited to jump right in and will be taking the lead in organizing exciting events like the Rancho Jireh Picnic in August. Look for more information on upcoming community service events in this newsletter! If you have any questions, please contact Miguel.

Rotaract Member from Stockholm, Sweden to Visit San Diego Marie Hegberg, a member of the Djurgarten Rotaract Club of Stockholm, Sweden, will be visiting San Diego during the last week of July. She will be attending the North County Rotaract meeting on July 27 and we are working on planning a happy hour so she can meet Downtown Rotaract members as well. Plans will not be confirmed until she and her boyfriend reach San Diego, but we would like to get an idea of who would like to join us in welcoming them to San Diego. If you are interested in details on this event, please email Stacey.

Rancho Jireh Picnic Planners - New Date TBD Due to a scheduling conflict, our Annual Rancho Jireh Picnic will have to be moved from the previously announced weekend. We're searching for a date that's convenient for all parties involved and will let you know the new date and time as soon as possible! Rancho Jireh Foster Homes is a non-profit Christian ministry serving the needs of abused and neglected children. Founded in 1988, Rancho Jireh has successfully placed hurting children with Christian families in San Diego and Riverside counties who have opened their homes and provided individualized care and nurturing, helping children heal and blossom to their true potential. The picnic will be a day of BBQ, games, and a whole lot of fun for new families and Rotaract. We need planners! Volunteers are needed to plan games and get prizes, organize cookie decorating and face painting and also help set up for the event the day of. Please contact Miguel to help in the planning stages. It's sure to be a good time!

Munich Interota Conference 2005 September 11 - 18 (Sunday - Sunday) Munich, Germany Themed "Be Rotaractive - Create Future", Rotaractors, Rotarians and their guests from all over the world are invited to come together at the Interota conference in Munich from September 11 - 18, 2005. The conference aims at picking up the Rotaract principles: Learn, Help and Celebrate. The conference will also serve as a platform for getting to know Rotaractors worldwide, making friends and establishing transcontinental partnerships with the help of atmospheric celebrations as well as an attractive culture and sight-seeing program. For more information visit http://www.interota.org.

Cultural Exchange with Ankara, Turkey We are very excited to participate in a cultural exchange this year with the Rotaract Club of Kavaklidere Ankara, Turkey!! They are currently compiling a DVD movie including their last club meeting, interviews with their members, a small city tour, and preparation of a traditional Turkish meal. Along with this movie they will be sending other stuff like small souvenirs and some other video materials introducing Turkey. We will be forming a committee to do video footage and put together some other items to send to our fellow Rotaractors. Please contact Stacey for more info or to join the committee.

Member of the Month - June 2005 Our Member of the Month is Andy Gerber for his enthusiasm and work at many of our events. He was eager to help out for Ace of Hearts and has been consistent in our volunteer efforts, recently volunteering for the Life Skills Scavenger Hunt. Congratulations, Andy!

Senior Center 2nd Saturday of each month Volunteers (2-3) are needed the 2nd Saturday of each month from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm to help serve lunch at the Senior Center Downtown. Please contact Miguel for details and availability.

Downtown San Diego Breakfast Rotary Meeting The Downtown San Diego Breakfast Rotary Club is meeting every Wednesday at 7:00 am at the Symphony Towers University Club, 750 B Street, Suite 3400. Next scheduled speakers / events: July 27 Cdr. Frank Michael III Tsunami Relief August 03 Hon. John Hargrove Credit Abuse Resistance Education "What every parent should know to keep kids out of bankruptcy court." August 10 Armon Mills President & Publisher, S.D. Business Journal August 17 D. Michael Kalichman & Dr. Larry Hinnman Center For Ethics In Science & Technology "The Future of Stem Cell Research in San Diego" For last minute changes, please check http://www.sdrotary.org!

Members' Bulletin Board Play Ball for Paul! July 30 (Saturday) & July 31 (Sunday) Hourglass Fields, Mira Mesa The Paul Jacobson Spinal Cord Foundation aims to ease the incredibly difficult transition from the hospital through rehab to home for newly injured spinal cord patients. Participate in the softball tournament 7/30 & 7/31 at Hourglass Fields in Mira Mesa. If would like sign up a team, become a sponsor, or volunteer, please contact Andrea Espinoza. Make a Friend. Make a Difference! Y-FRIENDz is a new mentoring program with YMCA Youth and Family Services for children ages 4-15 that have one or both parents in prison. There are over 15,000 children with incarcerated parents in San Diego County! Y-FRIENDz mentors spend 1-3 hours a week with their mentee for the period of one year. Once a month all mentors and mentees are invited to a community event including activities such as picnics, concerts, plays, athletic events, community service and much more. What are the benefits of such a program? Mentoring empowers positive change in children and helps build the relationships and skills they need to become happy, healthy, and productive adults. Outcomes include a better attitude towards school, higher chance of going on to higher education and enhanced leadership skills and self-image. How can you get involved? Become a mentor! Our goal this first year is to make 150 matches. Attend an Orientation to learn how you can be matched with a child who needs you. Help us find mentors in the community! Put us in touch with an organization, business, group, or club where we can find quality role models. Get involved in our monthly events! Let us know about a unique idea or opportunity for an event. Help us with planning or be a chaperone. Please contact Christina Reyna with any questions or inquiries at (619) 543-9850 Ext. 135 or by email at treyna@ymca.org. Help Desired! Desire a reliable and trust worthy individual to walk my incredible black lab named Sam. Walk Monday - Friday for 30 minutes, anytime between 11:00 am - 1:00 pm. Pays $200.00 a month. Live at Park and Market, Downtown. Sam is very well trained and behaved and loves walks through Petco Park, which is a few blocks away. Contact Patrick Ross at 720-971-1711 if interested. Roommate Wanted Share 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 1/2 car garage townhouse in the USD / Fashion Valley area. Bedroom w/ own private bath. Fireplace. W/D. Pool, Spa, Sauna, Tennis. Secure. Non-smoker. $750.00 month + utilities. Available 7/05/05. Must see. Call Saleigh at 619-988-9062 or saleigh@sbcglobal.net Post your own message here! Do you need a roommate? Trying to sell your car? Let Rotaract work for you! Post your message here in the newsletter and have it be seen by over 100 like-minded people. Just send an e-mail to newsletter@sdrotaract.org with "Bulletin Board" in the subject line. Please remember to also include a general time frame for your message, e.g. 3 weeks, 2 newsletters, or until November 1st.

Rotaract & Rotary Trivia Featured Rotary International Project: Understanding Climate Change A Q&A with Robert Coates, Rotary Club of The Mission Valley, California, USA. Rotary International: What is Understanding Climate Change all about? Coates: The idea is we help Rotarians understand climate change, one Rotary club at a time. RI: How does it work? Coates: We have network of scientists around the world to help you find the best climatologists in or near your city and introduce them to your club so they can do presentations at Rotary clubs. We can show clubs what their region will look like according to computer models regarding water supply, public health issues, rising tides, fires, and storms, and other factors. RI: So it's an educational initiative? Coates: When it comes to the environment, knowledge is power and ignorance is suicide. For example, if we are going to go into safe water initiatives, we need to know what climate change is doing to our water supplies. Clubs start doing assessments of their industries and do their own projects from there. Based on the information they get, clubs in Florida might act differently upon this data than a club would in Alaska. RI: When did the project get started? Coates: We started it 16 years ago and on a local level there are now about 60 Rotarians involved in the project. RI: Has there been a lot of interest at the convention? Coates: I think we are going to come away from the convention this year with an international network of about 2,000 clubs that are interested in this. For more information, visit the project's web site: http://understandingclimatechange.org Copied from: http://www.rotary.org