Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person
and via Zoom; and
“James Wright from A Step Beyond”
January 26, 2023
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we seek new opportunities to serve…
We met again in person at the Chamber of Commerce… Great to enjoy the fellowship again and see all your smiling faces…
As a Club, we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag led by Floyd Farley and, an invocation was offered by past President Jack Anderson...….
Guests and Visiting Rotarians:
Ralph Tavaras visiting from Brazil
Speaker James Wright from A Step Beyond
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
No birthday’s this week
Anniversaries:
No Wedding Anniversaries this week
Rotary Anniversaries:
No Rotarian anniversaries this week
Dates to Remember:
February 9: Sunrise Rotary 43rd Anniversary Dinner at Stone Brewery 6-9pm $45 pp……. No meeting that day
February 18: Escondido After 5 Fundraiser
Rich Aeling being honored, 5-9pm Lexus Center
March 10: Whisky Tasting fellowship event
March 11: PAL Fundraising event
March 23-26: Mexicali Build Project
High 5’s and Announcements:
Kim Henson presented a “pink Fix Auto” hat to President Tina in honor of Glynna Hoekstra who had surgery yesterday
Past President Mark Hoekstra updated us all on Glynna’s surgery. The surgery went perfect and 4 lymph nodes were removed that came back negative (SO AWESOME!!!) The reconstructive part of the surgery went well and she will be coming home today (1/27).
Brian Murphy updated everyone about his wood furniture making show, it will be running for 2 months. He also said that this was the most successful show to date
Jim Ponder let us all know that Palomar Foundation sent a thank you note for an ESR donation
President Tina presented an Paul Harris Foundation pin that honored Past President Tony Criss for his very generous donations over the years in the amount of 10k. Way to go Tony!!!!
Rotarian of the Quarter:
President Tina presented and honored past President Barry Baker with a gift for all he has done and is currently doing to help out this year. Thank you, Barry, for all of the “history trivia” and the great job you are doing heading up the 43rd Anniversary dinner. We appreciate you!!!
Rotarians Having Fun and Serving…
All kinds of fun and service and fun…
Pictures are worth a thousand words…
Some of our Escondido Sunrise Notary members hung out with Ralph Tavaras at Tony’s Pepperoni’s. He was here visiting from Brazil (where he currently lives taking care of his sweet wife who is battling with Alzheimer’s) Ralph was very involved with the past Mexicali projects
Program:
Past President Jim Ponder introduced our speaker this week, James Wright who is the CEO of A Step Beyond in Escondido. James grew up in Hawaii, is married and has 3 kids (all 3 kids his wife delivered at home). James is also a member of the Escondido Noon Club and he worked for Feeding San Diego and he has been with A Step Beyond for 2 ½ years now.
A Step Beyond is located in The Center for The Arts in Escondido. They prepare undeserved youth for success in college, career, and life through dance, academic support, and family services. As the kids graduate, they can stay connected to A Step Beyond and get assistance as the need arises.
A brief history: A Step Beyond was founded by Frank & Jan Foster who served on the board for The Wooden Floor and they saw the success year after year of the after-school program that promoted education through dance for the underserved youth. They saw 100% of the kids year after year graduate from high school and go on to further success in their college and careers. When they retired 12 years ago, they after-school wanted to duplicate the same program in Escondido because they saw a great need here.
98% of the students this program serves are Hispanic and are bilingual. It is a completely free program and there are approximately 100 students that apply and only 50% are selected.
In 2020 during the pandemic the board discussed whether they should close their doors due to possibly not being able to reach the kids but decided it was too important and wanted to stay open and help as much as possible. As time went on what they did find was that the students were very behind in their academics, but fast forward 2 years later and all of the students increased in their grades which was a very positive thing.
A Step Beyond has so many opportunities and benefits that we can’t put it all down in this newsletter however they are always looking for volunteers in the way of tutoring with homework or come in and share your career/job story with the kids. On 3/22 of this year there will be a community reception event to show the program to the public and the different volunteer opportunities.
James invited anyone down to A Step Beyond anytime to take a tour. They currently have a 1.5-million-dollar budget. ESR generously donated $1500 to the program.
Please see the brochure for more info:
Opportunity Drawing:
There are only 18 cards left
Grand Prize; $798 lucky ticket held by Brian Murphy.… Sorry, unlucky card…
Lunch money; $21… Mike O’Malley (way to go!!)
Will be in person and online at the Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2023……
Thanks for Attending Today’s Meeting….
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless our first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support…
Online Meetings:
Technical Support for Online Meetings:
Our meetings will begin as a hybrid setting with in-person and on-line opportunities…The meetings will be technically managed by Past President Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…
Watch for emails defining the next meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…
SEE YOU SOON…… In Person or ONLINE… Next meeting; February 2, 7:30 AM at the Chamber of Commerce…
Check President Tina’s email for the info
