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across the globe, in our communities, & in ourselves.”
  
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Club News
 
Mike Norcia called the meeting to order and Suzanne Boxer-Gassman led the pledge of allegiance. Mike thanked Suzanne for the great video she made for the Great Race.
 
For our inspiration, Henry wished all the mothers a happy mothers day. He also recommended we be kind to servers in restaurants, to be fair with tips, and to have patience as they do a hard job. Enjoy your next meal!

Visitors

  • Our guest speaker Mike Brickley and his wife Cathy
  • Arley Marley, a past district governor
  • Joe Albers and Luis Lope Alfaro from Grande Workforce Initiative
  • Barry Bronson from the senior group in Los Gatos, visiting to see what Rotary is about.
  • Andy Garcia Romo, community engagement manager from  Sunday Friends
 
Tom Boyce updated us on his wife’s Carol’s condition. She is doing great after her 8 week hospital stint with a bad infection. He thanked Rotary for our support and prayers.

Announcements

  • National Clean Up Day is on May 20.  We will be doing a river clean up from 9-12. Sign ups are now closed, but thank you to those who volunteered.
  • We are hosting a Work Party to update Live Oak Senior Services at the Methodist church by the high school on Wed May 24 at 1:30. Contact Tom Picraux for details. Our Rotary club helped establish this facility, which is now celebrating its 40th anniversary! There will be a reception on June 1.
  • Our annual Family BBQ is on June 2 at 5pm at Oak Meadow. RSVP to Tina Orsi-Hartigan and bring a dish to share. 
  • Patti says if you are a committee chair  to make your budget requests by June 1. 
 
 
Joe Albers and Luis Lope Alfaro from Grande Center in rural El Salvador updated us on the  Grande Center for Education and  Grande Center for Economic Opportunity. They just opened a data services training program in El Salvador. Luis came all the way from El Salvador where this program has helped him and his family. He says the goal is to work hard and give opportunities to keep the families in El Salvador, so there is no need for migration. 
They invited us to come in October to see the work in progress. 
 
Andy Garcia Romo from Sunday Friends updated us on their program. For 27 years this organization has focused on low income families to break the cycle of poverty in San Jose. In 2020 they focused on helping people learn digital literacy needed to succeed in the Covid era. Now they are re-opening community days to partner with organizations like credit unions, STEM, art programs, health programs, etc so families know resources available to them. They thanked Rotary for our contribution that made possible some basic necessities to those who need it most.
 
Arley Marley, a past district governor, let us know he is now district web manager and district PR/marketing manager. He can help us develop strategic plans to get us connected to our greater community. 
He gave a shout out to Marlon Smith who gave a compelling presentation on ELC to the Sunnyvale Rotary Club many many years ago, which ended up growing the program across the district. 
 
 
Meeting brought to order at 12:30 by President, Mike Norcia. 
 
Pledge of allegiance led by Patti van der Burg. 
 
Inspiration was provided by Jean-Marc Blanchard. He shared a basketball story that focused on doing the right thing and having good sportsmanship. 
 
 
Guests
Bonnie Cartwright, Caterer from Montebello Market in downtown Los Gatos 
Diane Eriksson 
 
Visiting Rotarians: 
Julia Anderson from Los Gatos Morning Club 
 
 
New Members: Paul Johnson introduced to new Red Badge Members: Amy Liang, Technology Director for the Los Gatos Unified School District and Jason Deppong, Principal at Lexington Elementary School. 
 
Announcements: 
Our First Tuesday event last week was fabulous! It was held at the site of the Old Florentine Restaurant in Los Gatos. Thank you, Nicolette, for opening up the space for us. 
 
Congratulations Alex Bonev from Leigh High School for winning the District Speech Contest at the 5170 District Conference. All told, he won approximately $4000 in prize money from all the contests. 
 
Tina Orsi-Hartigan reported that our Interact Auction was a huge success, raising $1950 that will go to Martha’s Kitchen as well as other local and international programs. 
 
The Town of Los Gatos will hold the Resource Fair for Older Adults on Thursday, May 11 from 10:00am to 12:00pm at 208 E. Main Street in Los Gatos. Over 25 service providers will be attending and plenty of raffle prizes will be won! The website for more information is 55plus@lgrecreation.org. 
 
National River Cleanup Day is May 20. Creek Connection Action Group will host a cleanup of Los Gatos Creek along the trail through Oak Meadow Park from 9:00am – 12:00pm. Registration is closed. 
 
There will be a Rotary Work Party to support Live Oak Adult Day Services reopening in Los Gatos on Wednesday, May 24 at 1:30pm. Location: Live Oak rooms in the building behind Los Gatos Methodist Church, 111 Church St., Los Gatos. Contact Tom Picraux at stpicraux@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out. 
 
 
Meeting brought to order at 12:30pm by President Mike Norcia.
 
Pledge of allegiance led by Paul Christensen
 
Inspiration was provided by John Pencer.  John shared various inspirational quotes from Rotary International that focused on service and sharing kindness with others.
 
Guests: Marlon Smith introduced Run Han Wang.
 
Visiting Rotarians: None
 

Announcements

 
New Members: Martha Sterne and Sergio Michel received their Red Badges from Terri Trotter and Ramon Ware, respectively.
 
We Care: Dick Konrad has had his hip replaced and is on the mend. Patti van der Burg had her appendix burst while on vacation in London. She is recovering nicely but must extend her trip by two to three weeks because she is now, not allowed to travel.
 
St Luke’s sent a nice thank you note detailing their continued appreciation for our financial support.  
 
The next First Tuesday Happy Hour is scheduled for May 2 and will be held at the Old Florentine Village, 42 Central Avenue in Los Gatos from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
 
Our May 9 meeting is a service project. We will be making blankets for the Linus Project. Please bring the following supplies if you have them: fabric scissors, rotary cutters, cutting mats, seam rippers and rulers.
 
Our annal Roast and Toast is scheduled for Tuesday, June 27 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Villa Ragusa in downtown Campbell. Ticket sales will begin the second week of May.
 
Tina Orsi-Hartigan will be receiving the Stan Allen Commitment to We Care Award at the District Conference this Saturday, April 29. Congratulations Tina!
 
Another week of beautifully decorated eggs from Randy and Kathie!
 
Club Information

JOIN US

We meet every Tuesday at 12pm and welcome visitors.
See our "Weekly Meeting Schedule" to the right for details.
Meeting Location:
​Shir Hadash
20 Cherry Blossom Lane, Los Gatos, CA, 95032
 
 
Questions? Contact:
Mailing Address:
PO Box 1018
Los Gatos, CA  95031
June 2023
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Upcoming Events
 
 
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Our Weekly Meeting Schedule
Omar Chughtai from El Camino Hospital
Jun 13, 2023
Annual Update on El Camino Health
Ron Lykins
Jun 20, 2023
New and Novel Treatments for Blood Cancers
NO Regular Lunch Meeting
Jun 27, 2023
President Roast & Toast Dinner at Villa Ragusa
Community service
We helped assemble 24,000 meals with Rise Against Hunger at Saratoga High School in April. 
 
We assembled activity kits for isolation patients at El Camino Hospital for our February service project
 
We helped prep materials for solar kits for Lighting For Literacy at our December service project
 
We collected a record number of toys for Toys For Tots in 2022!
Above, volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank!
 
Filling backpacks for Back-to-School drives. The Rotary Club of Los Gatos participated in 3 back to school drives this year: Pacific Clinics, West Valley Community Services, and Jewish Family Services.
 
Cleaning the Los Gatos Creek
 
Collecting and sorting books for Stanford Children's Hospital
 
Donating food to the homeless at St. Luke's Church Los Gatos every Tuesday.
 
Our Fall 2022 service project with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley.  
 
Packing PPE equipment for the elderly at one of our Summer 2022 meetings. 
 
Our Leigh High School Rotary Interact students volunteering at Second Harvest.
 
Donating bikes to Good Karma.
 
Sorting items donated for fire evacuees in Summer 2020.
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Rotary International 2022/23 Theme