“Imagine Rotary”: The Chino Valley Rotary Club’s Transformational Journey 2022-2023

Dear Members and Community,

Reflecting on the transformative journey from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, as the president of the Chino Valley Rotary Club, I am filled with both pride and gratitude. This was my second time serving in this role, following the resilient Deanna Trang, who led our club with unwavering determination through the COVID-19 crisis.

Our journey this year was under the banner of “Imagine Rotary,” a theme that encouraged us to visualize and actualize possibilities for community development and fellowship. We believed that our collective imagination could fuel meaningful change, and indeed, we have seen this become a reality.

The year began with us exploring our collective impact through foundation giving discussions. We learned about the life-saving AED program from the Chino Valley Fire Department and pledged our support. Embodying the theme of ‘Imagine Rotary,’ we balanced service with fellowship, demonstrated in events like the exhilarating laser tag championship at Infuzion Zone.

Chino Valley Rotary Meeting at Infuzion Zone
Chino Valley Rotary Meeting at Infuzion Zone

Fall brought about a period of renewal and growth. We looked towards revitalizing our club by brainstorming new engagement strategies and welcoming fresh faces, like Nick Bergiadis. It was during this time we successfully organized the popular Lobsterfest, with hundreds of attendees, whose proceeds were channeled back into our community.

Watch this TikTok video to look back at our Chino Valley Rotary Lobsterfest event – https://www.tiktok.com/@zebwelborn/video/7158247581573860651

With the arrival of winter, we kept our service spirit warm by volunteering for the Isaiah’s Rock Thanksgiving Food and Christmas Food & Toy Giveaway. Together, we transformed the holiday season for many families in our community.

Our commitment to the ‘Imagine Rotary’ theme persisted into the new year. We expanded our support to our local senior community and donated to the Senior Ministry St Paul the Apostle. We also marked our commitment to global peace and understanding by supporting the District 5300 Peace Conference.

With spring in full bloom, we started planning for our Chino Valley Rotary Golf Tournament, got involved in the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy program, and supported the Love Them All Foundation’s Mexican Fiesta Dance.

As we prepared for a transition of leadership at the end of June, we celebrated our achievements at a debunking event. We were thrilled to welcome Anthony Verches, President of the Love Them All Foundation, as our new President, and look forward to celebrating our club’s 100th anniversary under the leadership of the dynamic Vola Rossi, owner of Let’s Party Entertainment. In April, Anthony was named Club Champion by our Rotary District 5300 District Governor Roger Gutierrez.

During my term, we managed to donate a budgeted $13,865 to local non-profits such as Isaiah’s Rock, Chaffey College’s Fund a Dream Scholarship, the Chino Valley YMCA, the Love Them All Foundation, and the Heart Safe, Bleed Safe program, among others. This was made possible by our dedicated club members, who, now numbering 22, work tirelessly to give back to the Chino Valley community.

It was an honor to serve a second term as the President of the Chino Valley Rotary Club and be part of a vibrant community of local leaders dedicated to service. If you share this passion for making a difference in your community, I invite you to join us. We’re always eager to welcome like-minded individuals committed to creating lasting change in the Chino Valley. To join us, please reach out to me, one of our club members, or our new leadership.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Deanna Trang, whose leadership during the challenging times of COVID-19 kept our club alive. And I welcome the new era under Anthony and Vola’s leadership, as we look forward to a resurgence of our club’s impact in the community. Our recent addition of two new members at the debunking event is a promising sign of this renewed energy.

Thank you, Chino Valley, for being our canvas of change, and here’s to another year of imagining and creating a better world together.

Thanks for everything!

Zeb Welborn, President, Chino Valley Rotary Club (2022-2023)

PS – We even won a golf tournament or two.

Chino Valley Rotary Club offers life-changing leadership opportunity for high schoolers with all-expenses-paid RYLA program

Chino Valley Rotary Club offers life-changing leadership opportunity for high schoolers with all-expenses-paid RYLA program

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a nationally-recognized leadership program.  The Chino Valley Rotary Club will be bussing four 10th and 11th graders to Camp Cedar Crest in Running Springs where they will stay overnight from March 24 to March 26.  Our Chino Valley students will collaborate with other students from the Rotary International District 5300 area, which covers Southern California and parts of Nevada.  During the all-expenses paid three-day seminar, students will develop leadership skills, gain self-confidence, and learn about various issues in our communities.  
 
To apply, students and parents must access our online registration system and select Chino Valley (779) from the dropdown menu.  The application deadline is March 6.  Two boys and two girls will be selected by committee and notified the following week. Application link: https://www.ismyrotaryclub.org/Ryla/?ID=106 
 
Anyone with questions may contact the Rotary Club at https://chinorotary.org/contact-us/
Chino Valley Rotary Club offers life-changing leadership opportunity for high schoolers with all-expenses-paid RYLA program

Be the Inspiration with the Chino Rotary Club

Last year our Rotary Theme was Making a Difference.

At the start of the year, one million people in Honduras lacked access to safe drinking water, 1.6 million people did not have sanitation facilities and very few rural locations were treating their water to make it safe.

Anna Casalme, a student from Chino Hills, interested in pursuing an MSc in Childhood Studies from the University of Edinburgh with a focus on child and adolescent health, was seeking financial assistance to get the medical training she needed to help mothers and children.

In Tijuana, Mexico 649 people were preparing to take part in a program designed to develop mentors, and indigenous leaders to run projects, identify needs and create tailor-made programs for those needs turning a village into a community.

And I was asking each of our members the same 4 questions.

  • What do you like about Rotary?
  • What can be improved about Rotary?
  • What can Rotary do for you?
  • What can you do for Rotary?

Based on that feedback, we set one goal – to double our membership – from 17 members to 34.

In order to do that, I asked our members to commit to doing a few things for our Rotary Club.

  1. Bring a guest to every meeting
  2. Attendance matters
  3. Make our meetings more friendly
  4. Do more community service
  5. Connect more with each other

Bring a Guest:

We conducted a membership meeting at the beginning of the year and during that meeting I asked us to identify the organizations and individuals who should be a part of the Chino Rotary Club. And I got to work making sure we invited those people/organizations to our club.

  • Arianna Fajardo, Management Assistant from the City of Chino
  • Lea Fellows, Assistant Superintendent from the Chino Valley Unified School District
  • Delinia Lewis, Community Resource Manager at California Institution for Men
  • Ray Marquez, Councilman for the City of Chino Hills
  • Jonathan Monroe, Detective/Corporal for the Chino Police Department

Rick Bui proactively invited:

  • Anthony Verches, President of The ESV Group, Inc.
  • Regina & Eric Price, Realtors at ReMax Champions

And Arianna Fajardo invited:

  • JV Cuasito, a Realtor from Keller Williams

 

Attendance Matters:

At the beginning of the year I printed out a sheet which had all of the clubs in the local area, the times they met and encouraged our members to make up meetings at other clubs.

We have a member in our club who has 55 years of perfect attendance. When Kevin Sullivan started his streak of perfect attendance my parents were in junior high school.

But, in addition to attending our regular meetings, it’s also important to attend the events that bring a bigger picture to Rotary. Gene and Louise Hernandez travel the globe attending Rotary events throughout the year. Our District also regularly puts on training events and fellowship events which help show the global impact Rotary has on the world.

CP Phan, Linda Perla, Rick Bui, Chris Foster, Dale Bright and Anthony Verches all spent time attending District events this year to bring back powerful ideas to our Rotary Club.

Rotary District 5300 Foundation Gala

And lastly, while attendance is important we must remember the true mission of Rotary, service above self. Danny Bozart, who couldn’t make it to several meetings, is the General Manager of a $40 million steel plant in Chino and he travels on a weekly basis. It’s not possible for him to make it to every meeting, but he makes every effort to make our Wednesday meetings. In fact, last week he told me he was in another part of the United States on Wednesday, but when a meeting cancelled, he took the redeye flight to get home just so he could make our Rotary meeting.

 

Make Our Meetings More Friendly:

This year we did a few things to help make our meetings more fun. We continued Melinda’s Meet & Greet events and expanded on them. This year we

  • Tried and failed to escape from a room
  • Hit golf balls at Los Serranos
  • Hung out at Chris Foster’s House

Chino Rotary Club tries to Escape from Room

Of all the things I think our Rotary Club can stand to improve the most, being more friendly is at the top of the list. We have some amazing people in our Rotary Club who are all volunteering their time to make a difference. As a club, we’re often quick to criticize, and rarely take the time to thank each other for the work we’ve all done to make our communities better.

As Leadership Expert, Robin Sharma said, “Be slow to criticize, and fast to appreciate.”

There are so many things competing for our time today that if we feel valued and appreciated, especially as volunteers, we’re more likely to continue. If we feel our efforts are not valued, it’s easy for us to spend our time somewhere else.

I’d also like to use this as an opportunity to thank each and every one of you for the time, effort and energy you put in to make all our lives better.

Do More Community Service:

To be honest, when I joined our Chino Rotary Club, I was confused.

I thought we were a service club meaning we went out and provided service for those in need. And, after my first year in Rotary, we really didn’t do much in terms of hands on activities. But, in surveying our members, I understand that that was something that used to happen a lot more often and we just moved away from it as a club.

Every member I spoke with said they enjoyed those and so, as a way to attract more members, I asked our current membership to take the responsibility of planning a hands-on service project each month.

Chino Rotary Isaiah's Rock

Chino Rotary Club Together We Rise

  • Dale Bright and Arianna Fajardo organized our Stepping Up for Boys program to help Chino Valley Unified School District elementary school students prepare for junior high school

Chino Rotary Club Stepping Up for Boys

  • Melinda Robbins, Anthony Verches and Rick Bui helped organize and distribute bags for human trafficking victims via the Every One Free program

Every One Free Chino Rotary Club Human Trafficking

  • Narvee Intarachote and Anthony Verches helped to plant a tree in honor of Dave King outside the Chino Community Building

Chino Rotary Club Dave King Tree

Connect More with Each Other:

In the middle of the year we instituted a mentor/mentee program with the idea to get more connected with one another. Each of our new members had the opportunity to choose a mentor from our established members.

There was no specific format or procedure to follow, other than to connect with one another and learn about each other.

Prior to this year, my Rotary moment was building a home for a needy family in Tecate, Mexico. But, I think the thing I’m most proud of this year is connecting our members with one another to do some remarkable things.

  • CP Phan and JV Cuasito were starting a podcast together
  • Chris & Daphne Foster hired CP Phan to do their maternity photos
  • Rick Bui and Al McCombs toured Chino and Rick started a Go Fund Me Campaign to try and get people to donate to create an Al McCombs Biography
  • Linda Perla and Gene Hernandez went to Mexico to work on Rotary Project Hope
  • Regina’s daughter Abby sung the National Anthem at the Love Them All Foundation Golf Tournament

But, probably my favorite story was with Kevin Sullivan and Linda Perla. Kevin called up Linda and asked her to attend an event he was scheduled to speak at because he needed a ride. Turns out the event was The Southern California Tennis Association was hosting a Hall of Fame ceremony for Kevin’s best friend, Rod Laver. Billie Jean King, Michael Chang, Tracy Austin and Pancho Gonzalez were also honored. And here was 21-year-old Linda Perla at the head table with these legends of tennis, all thanks to Kevin Sullivan and Rotary.

Chino Rotary Club Mentor Mentee

We Made a Difference

We raised $28,960.06 this year. We gave $2,000 to Isaiah’s Rock, $500 to Make a Child Smile, $500 to the Chino Cultural Center, $1,500 to the YMCA, $500 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, $500 to the Love Them All Foundation, $500 to Gold Star Moms, $150 to the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Salute to Public Safety, $250 to Together We Rise, $2,650 to CVUSD Teachers via the Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grants, $2,286.62 to Every One Free, $500 to an Eagle Scout Pole Project, $500 to the Boy Scouts, $156.44 for the Crombie Allen Awards, $1,200 to TLC, $1,200 to RYLA, $750 to the Academic Decathlon Team at Don Lugo, $750 to the Dan Stover Music Contest, $625 to the 4-Way Speech Contest, $3,262.68 to the Stepping Up for Boys program, $1,050 for Anna Casalme’s Global Grant, $500 for the SuperBuild project, $500 to the Rose Parade Float, $1,000 to the Honduras Water Project, $500 to the District 5300 Peace Conference, and $1,000 to the Polio Plus program totaling $30,314 distributed to the charities we support.

But, I think our biggest impact came form the things I mentioned at the beginning.

At the beginning of the year, Gene Hernandez was working on Rotary Project Hope, a program to train community leaders through engaging and replicable leadership courses. Those who attended trainings were then given the opportunity to create these leadership trainings for their communities creating a sustainable project that will impact thousands. Member Linda Perla made the trip down to Mexico with Gene to see these courses in action and said it was phenomenal.

Watch the video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEp2VM5JuQ0

Rotary Project Hope Gene Hernandez Chino Rotary Club

Thanks to Melinda Robbins, Gene Hernandez, Chris Foster and Raghada Khoury, among others, Anna Casalme received a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship for $61,000 to attend the University of Edinburgh to study Childhood Studies and impact the lives of mothers and children wherever she ends up … Hopefully right back here in the Chino Valley.

Anna Casalme Chino Rotary Club

And lastly, 21-year old Linda Perla took it upon herself to introduce the Honduras Water Project to our club, other clubs across the district and to our District. Thanks to contributions from our club, other clubs and the District, the Global Grant was funded for $500,000 to provide water for 31 schools in Honduras. 

Members of our club helped to contribute more than $600,000 in financial support to worthy causes. Not only did we contribute with our pocket books, but we also contributed with our hands in the activities I mentioned previously.

I’m extremely proud of the work we did this year. I’m proud to be a Rotarian. And I hope you’re proud of the work we did this year too.

2017/2018 Chino Rotary Awards

Thank you to all our Chino Rotary club members who “Made a Difference” this year. Below is a list of the Chino Rotary Club Award Winners for 2017/2018.

  • Membership Award – Rick Bui
  • Vocational Service Award – Anthony Verches
  • Club Service Award – Melinda Robbins
  • Youth Service Award – Mike Faherty
  • International Service Award – Gene Hernandez
  • Membership Growth Award – Arianna Fajardo
  • Public Image Award – Lorraine Sacca
  • Community Service Award – CP Phan
  • Foundation Award – Dale Bright
  • Above & Beyond Award – Linda Perla
  • New Member of the Year Award – CP Phan
  • Rotarian of the Year Award – Rick Bui

Be the Inspiration

To leave you with one last thought, the theme for this year is Be the Inspiration. We can create the world we live in, but we have to “inspire” others to join us as we can’t do it alone.

I’m excited to pass the reigns over to Chris Foster as I know he will be the inspiration we need to make our club even better in 2018/2019. Thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. I’m truly grateful.

Zeb

Zeb Welborn and Chris Foster Chino Rotary Club

PS – One last thing. My sister, Lacey and I, realize how bad our Chino Rotary Club website was. Since that’s our business, we figured we’d redesign the Chino Rotary Club website. Would love to get your thoughts on our new website – http://chinorotary.org

If you know of any other Rotary clubs who could use a better website, tell them to reach out to Zeb Welborn at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com.

 

2018 Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant Award Winners

April at Chino Rotary: Honduras Water Project, Stepping Up for Boys, Teacher Mini-Grants, Craft Talks and Big Brothers Big Sisters

The Chino Rotary Club had an amazing April as we helped to support a Honduras Water Project, hosted our Stepping Up for Boys program, gave $2,500 to Chino Valley Unified School Teachers via the Mini-Grant program, had four craft talks, Arianna Fajardo shared her experience so far with Big Brothers Big Sisters and CP Phan created an amazing video from his experience at RYLA.

WASH in Schools Target Challenge

Our club is excited to be supporting the San Pedro Sula Rotary Club in Honduras on Rotary International’s pilot project WASH in Schools. The San Pedro Sula RC and other four clubs in Honduras were awarded a total amount of $500,000 as a global grant in order to provide hydrosanitary infrastructure, drinking water and education training for health for 31 schools in Honduras! You can read more about the project at  https://my.rotary.org/en/wash-schools-target-challenge

Part of the challenge in this grant was to include international clubs to support raise a total of $75,000 towards the project, with the objective that Rotarians unite to benefit schools in needy communities. Our Chino Rotary member, Linda Perla, is a former Rotaractor of San Pedro Sula. With a desire to expand on Chino Rotary’s engagement on international projects, she presented the WASH project to our club so we could be a part of it. We are delighted to be supporting this project and also glad to know that other clubs like Pomona, Rancho del Chino, and District 5300 have also joined us in contributing to this pilot project

Stay tuned to follow how this project develops and see Rotarians in action! Chino Rotary values our partnership with clubs, internationally and locally, to multiply the impact Rotarians can have when we work together. We are elated to further our partnerships and serve the needy worldwide!

Stepping Up for Boys

I believe this is the third year the Chino Rotary Club has sponsored the Stepping Up for Boys program and it was a tremendous success. On April 21, more than one hundred 6th grade students attended the Stepping Up for Boys program which helps young students transition from elementary school to junior high school.

The program has been a phenomenal success. Thank you to everyone who was involved and thank you to everyone participated.

$2,500 in Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grants

On April 25, the CHINO ROTARY CLUB awarded $2,500 to Chino Valley Unified School District teachers via the Debbie Bentley Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant program. Below is a list of teachers and the projects they planned to use the funds for:

2018 Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant Award Winners

2018 Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant Award Winners

Congratulations to:

Patrick Wood – Students will engage in model rocket testing and engineering as part of a unit capstone project that teaches Conservation of Momentum and Energy, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and Engineering Practices (NGSS).

Rebecca Reger & LauraLee Zuber – All third grade students will fully engage with science phenomena by participating in hands-on activities in order to deepen their understanding of grade level science standards. Students will witness the birth and development of baby chicks, butterflies, tadpoles, and ladybugs (NGSS standard 3-LS1,2,3). We have already purchased incubators and acquired fertile chicken eggs. Students will candle eggs at day 7 and day 14 to observe signs of life and movement. Then they will begin to witness signs of hatching around day 21 (peeping and pecking). They will observe the chicks as they hatch and grow into mature chickens, observing and noting heritable traits. Students will document and make models of different animal life cycles, including butterflies and tadpoles as they metamorphis into their adult stages. Throughout these lessons, students will analyze the similarities and differences between different animal species, including ladybugs. Students will design and perform experiments with magnets, including magnetic slime (NGSS standard 3-3PS2). Students will be amazed as they use magnetic forces to make a paperclip levitate or observe their magnetic slime “eating” a neodymium magnet while simultaneously learning about reactions within the slime. At this time, the state of CA has no adopted science curriculum to support the new Next Generation Science Standards. These materials will provide hands-on experiences for students with the newly adopted standards.

Jason Davis – Students will use the Lego Education MINDSTORMS EV3 Space Exploration Set to enhance and extend their understanding of robotics. By adding this set to our existing robotics program, students will simulate a mission to explore the harsh surface of Mars – right in the classroom!

Brianda Reyes – I want to integrate more hands on activities for all subjects. I want to be able to purchase or create learning activities for my students to become motivated to learn.

Chuck Pope – Each year we invite over 100 Veterans to attend an Oral History Day with th whole Junior Class. The students conduct interviews of one Veteran over a 3 hour period. They then must write a thank You Letter and an essay report on the experience.

Tracy Buss – The students have been learning about the life cycle of plants. We also researched plants and what types of fruits and vegetables will grow in our area during each season. Students have planted various winter lettuces and leaf vegetables. We want to harvest our vegetables and create recipes using our vegetables. We will then create a restaurant with the recipes. We will use the money skills we are learning in math to create a menu with prices. Students will make the food and serve it to the parents. We have already harvested and frozen butternut squash for soup and lemons for lemonade. We are going to create a soup and salad menu. The problem is that our irrigation system is in dire straights. Skateboarders damaged the sprinkler system in our garden. We have the basic irrigation system, but need to have the sprinklers repaired.

Ashley Rist – I would like to create a mobile green screen “kit” to provide our school with green screen technology. Green screens are used to super impose images into a background, and combined with additional pictures, animations, and media. The use of green screen tech is easy for teachers to use and teach the students to help them create engaging and fun 21st century technology for all elementary school students!

Paula Stow – With a Breakout EDU kit, I can turn my classroom into an academically-focused escape room and facilitate games where players use teamwork and critical thinking to solve a series of challenging puzzles in order to open the locked box.

Laura Grissom – The following information will be distributed to the class in some way (there is a printable document included in the file). It could be a PowerPoint slide. The purpose of the background story is to just to add a fun element. If you elect to, you could even decorate the room to correspond to the zombie theme. I’ve even thought about making a SAW like video or recording to add a sinister feel to the experience.

A former AP student, who is disgruntled from having received a 2 on the English Language and Composition Test in 2012, has locked you all into the room you are now in and has released a virus into the ventilation system. (Here you could elect to trigger a fog machine if you have one). If you do not find the cure in approximately 50 mins (this of course can be altered depending on adding or subtracting steps), you will all turn into brain-dead, Brussel-sprout-eating zombies who will score no higher than a 1 on your upcoming test. Good luck.

Step One: Take the Gatsby AP test to obtain the combination to the key lock. (I shorted the original test (also include in the file) for time sake. Any test could work here.) I’ve assigned each answer a point value. I then used the added points to create a combination for my number lock (ordered from Amazon).

Step Two: Use the correct combination to unlock key (realtor) lock (somewhere in the room) in order to obtain the key.
You could of course use the key to anything in the room that locks.

Step Three: Use the key to unlock the locked cabinet/drawer that hides the combination to the locked tool box, which contains an encrypted message. The real combination is written with a black light marker and then masked by shaded pencil numbers. I’ve taped this clue to the bottom of my empty file cabinet drawer. The clue says “hides” and a black light flash light is in the drawer with the combination, but I’m allowing the students no other clues than that for this step.

Step Four: Use the combination (158) to unlock the tool box lock and decode a question. The answer to that question is the password to a computer file found on the classroom computer desktop. The question is written in WWI code (just the first letter of each word). You can use any combination lock/box combo.

Step Five: Locate the computer document and access it via the password discovered in Step Four. The computer document contains literary term questions. If you can successfully answer the questions using the blank spaces provided, the special spaces will reveal a word. This word is the password to the cure – its use will ensure success in getting a passing score on the AP exam. I placed a key icon shortcut directly on my laptop desktop and labeled with the word “zombie.”

Step Six: Use the antidotal word to unlock the word lock to obtain the cure. Please administer the cure to each student in the room to eradicate the virus and prevent it from spreading to your loved ones outside these walls. Again, good luck. The antidote could of course be anything, but I am electing to use candy.

Roseann Graff – I would like to purchase materials to create a weekly Creativity Lab in my classroom using STEM, STEAM, and Makerspace.

All of which received $250 Debbie Wilson Mini-Grants. Thank you for sharing your projects with us and making such a positive impact in the lives of youth in our community.

Four Craft Talks:

This month we had craft talks from Gene Hernandez, Chris Foster, Al McCombs and Rick Bui. Loved learning about the lives of these remarkable human beings. Want to know why Rotary is the best of the best? Look at these folks.

Chris Foster and Gene Hernandez from the Chino Rotary Club

Al McCombs Craft Talk

Rick Bui Chino Rotary Club Craft Talk

Arianna Fajardo and Big Brothers Big Sisters:

Arianna Fajardo joined Big Brothers Big Sisters during one of her first meetings attending the Chino Rotary Club. She’s now been a Big Sister for over a year and her Little Sister and her decided to create a video about their experience in Big Brothers Big Sisters so far. We’re so proud of Arianna for the impact she’s making through the Chino Rotary Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Watch the video here –

Arianna Fajardo from the Chino Rotary Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters

CP Phan’s RYLA Video:

Lastly, CP Phan and Linda Perla attended RYLA in March and CP Phan created this amazing video for the event. Everyone in Rotary talks about how impactful the RYLA program is and CP decided to document it. Check out CP’s video here –

alt="CP Phan video of RYLA for Chino Rotary Club"

Melinda Robbins and Jon Monroe for first Craft Talk

March at Chino Rotary: Dan Stover Music Contest, Sweet Cases Program Volunteer Event, First Craft Talk and More

In March, the Chino Rotary Club hosted the annual Dan Stover Music Contest. We had some great contestants and identified a winner who will be moving onto the next round of the music contest. Hopefully we will see him at the District Conference.

CP Phan did a great job planning for the month of March. Thanks to CP, we were able to participate in the Sweet Cases Program by Together We Rise. Through their program we decorated duffel bags for foster kids with a teddy bear, hygiene kit and blanket.

We hosted our Meet & Greet where we met at Los Serranos Country Club. Some of us took some time to hit some golf balls while all of us discussed membership and trying to increase our membership between now and the end of the year. All of us committed to inviting a guest got every meeting from now until the end of June. Looking forward to growing Chino Rotary membership between now and the end of the fiscal year.
Lastly, we hosted our first of a series of Craft Talks. Our first craft talk went to Melinda Robbins and Jon Monroe who shared some exciting insights into how they got where they are today. We learned so much about Melinda and Jon. They both set a great precedent for the future of our Chino Rotary Club craft talks.
Melinda Robbins and Jon Monroe for first Craft Talk

In April we have a lot coming up including Stepping Up for Boys, the District Conference, the Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grants, more craft talks and an update on Arianna Fajardo and her little sister from the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program.

We also have a lot to celebrate as JV Cuasito and Narvee Intarachote welcomed new children into the world. Zeb Welborn and Chris Foster are not far behind with children due in July and August.

2018 Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction

Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction, 2 New Members, 4-Way Speech Contest and Foundation Gala

February is always the busiest month of the year for us Rotarians as we plan and execute our annual fundraising event the Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction. The Dinner & Auction helps raise fund which we use throughout the year to make a positive impact in our community. In addition, we also hosted the 4-Way Speech Contest, added two new members, and attended President’s Advance and the Foundation Gala.

Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction

Our Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction was a huge success. Our goals were to double our sponsorships, attendance, donations and money raised. Although we didn’t double these efforts we substantially increased all of these efforts from our 2017 Dinner & Auction.

Last year we had 75 in attendance and this year we had more than 120 and increased the money raised from around $17,000 last year to somewhere between $20,000 and $24,000 this year. (We’re still calculating)

Great work Chino Rotarians on making our Dinner & Auction a huge success.

2018 Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction

Two New Members Added to Chino Rotary Club

We added two new members to the Chino Rotary Club this month. Delinia Lewis and Jon Monroe became our newest members. Delinia Lewis is the Community Resource Manager at the California Institution for Men and Jon Monroe works with the Chino Police Department.

Congratulations to Jon Monroe and Delinia Lewis on becoming members of the Chino Rotary Club.

Two New Members Added to Chino Rotary Club

Hosted 4-Way Speech Contest

We were excited to partner with the Rancho del Chino Rotary Club this year to host our 4-Way Speech Contest. We had an amazing speaker who will be representing us beyond our club. We’re very proud to be represented by such an amazing young lady.

Attended Foundation Gala and President’s Advance

Chino Rotarian Dale Bright was honored at the District 5300 Foundation Gala at the Queen Mary as the Chino Rotary Foundation Member of the Year. Congratulations to Dale Bright and thank you to Melinda Robbins, Linda Perla, Rick Bui, Chris Foster and Anthony Verches for attending to show your support for Dale.

Dale Bright is Rotary Foundation Member of the Year for 2017 - 2018

Chris and I also attended the President’s Advance on the Queen Mary so we could set up a strong succession plan for the Chino Rotary Club moving forward.

New Members, Taxes, Books, Leadership, Escape Room & Dinner & Auction Preparation

In January, the Chino Rotary Club:

  • inducted Regina & Eric Price from ReMax Champions
  • learned everything there is to know about taxes in 2018 from Jeff Werner
  • received 600 donated children’s books from Anne Kruse
  • attended the Rotary Leadership Institute
  • tried to escape from a room
  • prepared for the annual Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction

Induction of New Members

Congratulations to Regina & Eric Price on becoming Rotarians yesterday. Past District Governor Gene Hernandez presided over the installation of our newest members and Rick Bui sponsored them.

Regina & Eric have a passion for service and helping others. We are excited to have them join the Chino Rotary Club.

 

Jeff Werner on Taxes

Chino Rotarian Jeff Werner shared everything there is to know about the new tax laws for 2018.

 

Jeff Werner Poses with a Rotary Newsletter Prop

Children’s Books Donated by Anne Kruse

Rick Bui helped secure a donation of 600 children’s books from children’s author, Anne Kruse.

Anne Kruse Donates 600 Children's Books to Chino Rotary Club

Rotary Leadership Institute

Several members or our team attended the Rotary Leadership Institute in January. The District 5300 Rotary Leadership Institute trains new leaders in Rotary. Thank you to Linda Perla for getting involved in Rotary Leadership.

Linda Perla at District 5300 Rotary Leadership Institute

 

Chino Rotary Tries to Escape Room

In an effort to be more social and participate in team building exercises, the Chino Rotary Club visited an Escape Room in Pasadena. The people at the Escape Room were very impressed with our deductive skills and although we didn’t escape we had a lot of fun and got to connect with one another on a more personal level. Thank you for organizing this CP Phan.

 

Chino Rotary Club Visits Escape Room

 

Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction

Our Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction is only 17 days away. Please help us secure sponsorships, donations and attendees for our annual event.

Visit and share our Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction Eventbrite page – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chino-rotary-dinner-and-auction-2017-tickets-42677068260?aff=eac2

2018 Chino Rotary Dinner & Auction Flyer

 

 

District 5300 Rotary International Peace Conference:

In November, I spoke at the District 5300 Rotary International Peace Conference at the Huntington Library to hundreds of Rotarians on The Impacts and Uses of Social Media on Peace Building.

During the talk I shared insights on:

  • How to Personally Use Social Media for Peace Building
  • 3 Tips to Promote Peace through Social Media
  • Social Media Success Stories from my Chino Rotary Club

Among other things.

If you have a chance to watch the video I’d love your feedback on the talk and the insights I shared on how impactful social media is in our world today.

Watch the video here – https://youtu.be/H5vSQsTU_CM

Zeb Welborn Speaking at District 5300 Rotary International Peace Conference

 

 

2018 Chino Rotary Board Selected, CVUSD Recognition, Rose Parade Float and More

The Chino Rotary Club finished 2017 on a high note. During the month we selected our 2018/2019 Board of Directors, were recognized by the Chino Valley Unified School District, helped build the Rotary Tournament of Roses Parade float, and assisted Isaiah’s Rock for the food giveaway and for their holiday giveaway.

2018/2019 Chino Rotary Club Board Selected

Congratulations to everyone who was asked to serve on the 2018/2019 Chino Rotary Club Board of Directors.

  • President – Chris Foster
  • President-Elect – Rick Bui
  • Secretary – Arianna Fajardo
  • Treasurer – Linda Perla
  • Director – Ray Marquez
  • Director – Gene Hernandez
  • Director – Mike Faherty
  • Past President – Zeb Welborn

Chino Rotary Club Recognized by the Chino Valley Unified School District

The Chino Valley Unified School District recognized the Chino Rotary Club for all the work we did for our community in 2017. Looking forward to helping more local youth in 2018.

Chino Valley Unified School District Recognizes Chino Rotary ClubChino Rotary Club Assists Isaiah’s Rock

We helped distribute food to needy families for Isaiah’s Rock on December 20 and helped them by cooking food for volunteers at their toy giveaway on December 23.

Chino Rotary Club Assists Isaiah's Rock Toy Giveaway

Chino Rotary Club Assists Isaiah’s Rock Toy Giveaway

Holiday Luncheon

We invited the Chino Rotary Club, Chino Kiwanis, Rancho del Chino Rotary Club and Soroptimist International of the Chino Valley to attend our Holiday Luncheon on December 13. We loved spending time with other groups who are doing amazing things in the Chino Valley.

One of the coolest things about our Holiday Luncheon was having Kevin Sullivan reach out to many past-Presidents of the Chino Rotary Club to attend our Luncheon. It was great seeing these leaders who have helped impact our community in a substantial way.

Past Presidents of the Chino Rotary Club

Past Presidents of the Chino Rotary Club

Rose Parade Float

Several members of the Chino Rotary Club assisted on the Rotary Tournament of Roses Parade Float. It was a lot of fun creating the float for the 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade.

9 New Members, Blue Star Boxes & Steven’s Hope at Chino Rotary Club

The Chino Rotary Club accomplished a lot in November. We inducted nine new members, put together Blue Star Boxes for veterans, attended a Steven’s Hope Luncheon, hosted a Thanksgiving event for local service clubs and sponsored a play for students at Lyle S. Briggs Fundamental School.

9 New Members Added to Chino Rotary Club

On November 15, our club added nine new members sworn in by District Governor Raghada Khoury and Past District Governor Gene Hernandez. Our new members were:

Group photo with members after being sworn in.

Chino Rotary Club adds nine new members

  • Keith Malespin – Opus Bank Senior Relationship Banker
  • Anthony Verches – Owner of The ESV Group
  • Lea Fellows – Assistant Superintendent at Chino Valley Unified School District
  • Daniel Bozart – West Coast Regional Manager at Valbruna Stainless Inc
  • CP Phan – Business Director at Creative Squeeze
  • JV Cuasito – Real Estate Expert at Keller Williams Real Estate
  • Narvee Intarachote – Financial Advisor at Edward Jones
  • Linda Perla – Spanish Medical Interpreter at Certified Languages International
  • Ray Marquez – Chino Hills Councilman and Broker Associate at Advantage Real Estate

Blue Star Boxes Put Together by Chino Rotary Club

On November 8, the Chino Rotary Club got together to put together Blue Star Boxes for Veterans at the Chino Community Building.

Watch the video created by new member CP Phan about the Blue Star Boxes – https://www.facebook.com/ChinoRotaryClub/videos/10156631349213840/

Rotarians in action to fill boxes.

Blue Star Boxes organized by Chino Rotary Club

Attended Steven’s Hope Luncheon

On November 2, several of our members visited the Steven’s Hope Luncheon. Steven’s Hope’s mission is:

To support the families of seriously ill or injured children

during  a child’s extended treatment and care.

Group photo of rotarians at the event.

Chino Rotary Club attends Steven’s Hope Luncheon

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Rancho del Chino Rotary Club and the Chino Kiwani’s Club. You can see the brief video we created for the Thanksgiving Luncheon here – https://www.facebook.com/ChinoRotaryClub/videos/10156670465818840/

Rotarians enjoying holiday luncheon.

Thanksgiving Lunch at Chino Rotary Club

The Magic Treehouse Night at Dawn Kids Play at Lyle S. Briggs Fundamental School

Earlier this year we gave out $5,000 via the Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant program to 15 different teachers in the Chino Valley Unified School District. One of those teachers used the funds to help put on a play at Lyle S. Briggs Fundamental School called The Magical Treehouse Night at Dawn Kids.

Chino Rotarians Attend Zone Institute in Reno

President Zeb Welborn and Past District Governor Gene Hernandez were invited to the Zone Institute as a representative of District 5300. Zeb is helping the District with Public Relations and Gene is attending as a Past District Governor.

Zeb Welborn, Louise Hernandez and Gene Hernandez at the Zone Institute in Reno, NV.

RIP Dave King, Isaiah’s Rock, Peace Conference, Business Expo and Big Brothers Big Sisters

RIP Chino Rotarian Dave King

October was a productive, yet sad month for the Chino Rotary Club. We lost member Dave King who passed away due to pancreatic cancer. The Chino Champion wrote a great article about the impact Dave and Charlene King have made on the Chino Community which I encourage you all to read here – http://www.championnewspapers.com/news/article_43cdcb28-b5cf-11e7-a8ce-c3d23fc8244c.html

Dave and Charlene King from Isaiah's Rock and the Chino Rotary Club

 

Chino Rotary Club Feeds Needy Families with Isaiah’s Rock

Our Rotary Club was fortunate enough to visit Dave, his family and Isaiah’s Rock one last time before he passed and donated $2,000 to the organization. Our club worked at Isaiah’s Rock on Wednesday, Oct. 11 to provide food for needy families in the Chino Valley. It’s amazing how many lives Dave and Charlene King have impacted because of their kind and giving hearts.

You can watch this video of us helping needy families with Isaiah’s Rock – https://youtu.be/xISNjIEI6Lw

Chino Rotary Club helps serve needy families with Isaiah's Rock

 

Chino Rotary Club Attends Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Expo

Dale Bright, Lorraine Sacca and Melinda Robbins set up a booth at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Expo and met lots of new potential Rotarians.

Gene Hernandez Moderates and President Zeb Welborn Speaks at Rotary District 5300 Peace Conference

Zeb Welborn was chosen as one of the speakers at the District 5300 Peace Conference where he spoke on the Impact and Uses of Social Media on Peace Building – Read the speech Zeb Welborn gave at the Huntington Library here – http://welbornmedia.com/the-impacts-and-uses-of-social-media-on-peace-building/

Zeb Welborn's Speech on the Impact and Influence of Social Media on Peace Building at the Rotary District 5300 Peace Conference at the Huntington Library

 

Chino Rotary Club Supports Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters came to the Chino Rotary Club to share how they are helping make young peoples lives better by providing mentors to them. Chino Rotarian Chris Foster is on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Arianna Fajardo became a Big Sister last year when Big Brothers Big Sisters came to speak to our organization.

We gave $500 to help support Big Brothers Big Sisters on October 4 during our regular Chino Rotary Club meeting.

Chino Rotary Club Donates $500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters

 

Arianna Fajardo Wins Putting Contest and a Bottle of Chardonnay from Los Serranos Country Club and Kevin Sullivan

Our Meet & Greet was held at Los Serranos Country Club on October 25 where we held a putting contest, thanks to Kevin Sullivan, for a bottle of Chardonnay. Arianna’s putt was the closest and she took home the bottle for her efforts.

Congratulations Arianna!

Arianna Fajardo Wins Chino Rotary Club Putting Contest