We race for charity - Annual Rotary Great Race

We award college scholarships

We mentor youth - Annual Rotary Enterprise Leadership Conference

We crack crab to raise funds for local and international grants - Annual Rotary Crab Fest

We volunteer in our community

We have fun together

We celebrate 100 years of service in the community

“Together, we see a world where people unite & take action to create lasting change -

across the globe, in our communities, & in ourselves.”

Follow & tag us on social media: @losgatosrotary

Meeting Notes from January 27, 2026

Call to Order
Meeting was called to order by President Paul at 12:30.

Pledge
Pledge was led by Dick Konrad, LG Citizen of the month. The LG unhoused brunch we sponsor weekly had eggs decorated in a football theme, and photos wee shared.

Guests
Ricky Bonin, a CPA and friend of Andrew Howard
Julie Klingel, second visit, friend of Suzanne
Mark Scianna, application soon, friend of Brad Strand

Inspiration
Inspiration by Anjana was the story of the polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk at University of Pittsburg in 1955. The successful trial was celebrated by the world. He denied patenting it so it could be quickly available to all. Rotary has a goal of eradicating polio.

Service Reminders
Paul reminded all to check Lissa and Jeff’s emails or his weekly recap regarding service opportunities for Hunger at Home, JW House, and Rise Against Hunger. Jeff announced the blood drive is coming 3/21.

El Salvador Service Trip
Mike Norcia announced there is a service trip to El Salvador March 3-9, to tour El Grande Center which we support. See his email for details.

Meeting Notes from January 20, 2026

Call to Order
President Paul Johnson called the meeting to order at 12:30.

Pledge of Allegiance
Jeffrey Barnett led the club in the pledge of allegiance.

Visitors
Angel Rampi, a business coach and close friend of Ana Maria Valenzuela
Julie Klingel, a retired ICU nurse, introduced by Michelle Myers Nelson
Eric Dunsten, volunteer extraordinaire around town, introduced by Michelle Strachan
Jim, friend of John Walker who has visited the club a number of times and submitted his application for membership

Inspiration
Anjana Bose read the famous Robert Frost poem from 1916, The Road Not Taken. After an inspiring reading, Anjana pointed out that all of us took one great “road”, the decision to join Rotary.

Blue Badge Bio
We had an unusual dual Blue Badge Bio from Brad and Kristina Strand, sponsored by Tom Boyce. They talked through their various life phases, taking turns with Brad talking about Kristina, then Kristina talking about Brad. This is a high level summary of the many details they shared.

Kristina Strand
Kristina was born in NYC to maverick parents, then lived all around the world, a theme in both of their lives. One part of Kristina’s life was focused in Mexico and South America — Rio, São Paulo, Santiago and Mexico. Kristina is bi-lingual in Spanish and English. After her undergraduate work at Carlton, where she met Brad, she studied law in Valencia, Spain, and also studied in France and Minnesota. Before moving to Florida, she worked at the Bloom agency in Dallas.

All-You-Can-Eat CrabFest Fundraiser

Benefits:

Los Gatos Rotary Charities Foundation
Provides grants for local and international non-profits
Fund the Need:
Burn injuries can change a child’s life forever. For many young survivors, the physical scars are accompanied by feelings of isolation, insecurity, and being different from their peers. The SJ Firefighters Burn Foundation’s Burn Camp offers these children something truly special—a place where they are understood, accepted, and free to just be kids. In a safe and supportive environment, campers experience joy, friendship, and renewed confidence. Our fundraising goal of $15,000 will make it possible for 26 young burn survivors to attend this life-changing camp, where healing begins, self-worth is restored, and lasting memories are made.

Food Served:

Crab, Crab, Crab, Crab
Soup (vegetarian), Salad, Bread
Pasta (vegetarian)
Dessert
Wine and beer available for purchase

Meeting Notes from January 13, 2026

Call to Order
Paul Johnson called the meeting to order at 12:30pm.

Pledge
Ron Cassel led the pledge.

Guests and Visiting Rotarians
Linda Reiners
Asuman Tariman from her Rotary club in Turkey, who presented the club with her club flag
Mark Scianna
Allison Snyder, Dan Snyder’s daughter
Jim Childers
Anh Nguyen
Florence Hu
Lucius Ko

Decor
Beautifully decorated 49er eggs by Kathie and Randy for St. Luke’s! Thank you, Kathie.

Inspiration
Anjana Bose read the poem, Still I Rise, by Maja Angelou.

Red Badge Presentation
Michelle Strachan presented Nitze Dormady with her Red Badge.

Nominating Committee
Patti van der Burg announced the three additions to the 2006–2007 slate of officers:
Cindy Gentile — President Elect
Dan Snyder — Treasurer
Nathan Pendleton — Assistant Treasurer

We will vote on the slate of officers and directors at our next meeting.

February 2026

We meet most Tuesdays, 12:00-1:30PM at
Shir Hadash
20 Cherry Blossom Lane
Los Gatos CA 95032

First Tuesday
The Rodman Home

Mar. 03, 2026
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Our club is celebrating 100 years of service in our community. Check this out to see what we've been up to!

Los Gatos Police

Feb 10, 2026

Police Activity

Barb St. Clair, NAMI of Santa Clara County

Feb 17, 2026

Mental health: issues, what to look out for, and resources

Cheryl Reinking, Chief Nursing Officer,

Mar 24, 2026

How it's different leading as a Nurse Leader

Rob Moore, Mayor of Los Gatos

Apr 07, 2026

Mayoral focus areas for year

David Wells, Los Gatos Rotarian

Apr 21, 2026

Trends in Philanthropic Giving

Mark Krail, LGHS Football Coach

Apr 28, 2026

Football Coaching

View entire list...

We served Thanksgiving Lunch at Live Oak Senior Center

We packaged 22,000 meals with Rise Against Hunger in April 2025 (an annual event for us).

We feed families burdened by extended hospital stays at JW House on a regular basis

We assembled hygiene kits in May 2024 for the Catholic Charities Shower of Hope Mobile Van bringing hot showers to the unhoused population in East San Jose.

We raised over $14,000 at our February 2024 CrabFest for the Bill Wilson Center Safety Net Shelter for at-risk youth.

Every year, we partner with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley to help fix up a home in our area.

Each Fall, we stuff back packs full of essential back-to-school supplies for underprivileged kids.

Each year, we help prepare 30,000 meal packs for Rise Against Hunger.

We assembled activity kits for isolation patients at El Camino Hospital in February 2023.

We helped prepare materials for solar kits for Lighting For Literacy in December 2022.

Each holiday season, we donate hundreds of toys for Toys For Tots.

We volunteer every year at Second Harvest Food Bank.

We volunteer to clean up the Los Gatos Creek.

We donated then sorted hundreds of books for children being treated at Stanford Children's Hospital.

Every week, we donate food to the homeless at St. Luke's Church Los Gatos.

Here we are packing PPE equipment for the elderly at one of our Summer 2022 meetings.

Our Leigh High School Rotary Interact students volunteering at Second Harvest.

We donated bikes to Good Karma.

We sorting items donated for fire evacuees in Summer 2020.