Rotary Club of Palm Springs Sunup

It's a new Rotary year and the theme is, 'Serve to Change Lives'. Pictured are Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta and his wife, Rashi. We look forward to the year ahead. #Rotary #rotaryinternational #ServiceAboveSelf

A great time was had by all on Tuesday morning when Sunup Rotarians met together at the James O. Jessie Unity Center in Palm Springs. Our host, Jarvis Crawford, also a Sunup member, talked to us about the many events the center puts on each year for its varied participants. He then showed us around their spacious facility. The center contains a number of huge breakout rooms as well as a newly refurbished gym! Thanks, Jarvis, for your hospitality!

Carol Pipitone from D5330 and Bill Tobin , from D5180, spoke to our Club this week on the largest Rotary club project in our organization’s history-Shelter Box. Begun in 2000, Shelter Box has assisted over 1.5 million people in finding emergency shelters in times of need. These life-saving boxes have been delivered to refugees in 100 countries, so far. The first boxes were delivered to the State of Gujarat in India following a massive earthquake that occurred there.

For this month’s Club Social, several members enjoyed a beautiful afternoon hike through Oswit Canyon led by fellow member and tour guide, René Bernard, and David Cohan. It was a beautiful day and there was a sighting of Big Horn Sheep along the way! It was great to safely reconnect with friends in person once again. #Rotary #psiloveyou #oswitcanyon

Happy Birthday Rotary! #rotaryinternational

With the recent spikes in COVID cases, our Club is showing its appreciation and gratitude to the frontline healthcare workers at Desert Care Network on Wednesday, January 20th. We will be delivering 50 pizzas for the day shift workers and would like to thank our community partners for their support including Frankie's Italian Bakery & Supper Club, Mario's Italian Cafe's, Bill's Pizza Palm Springs and Miralon. If you would like to make a donation towards the next delivery for the night shift and COVID Relief funds, please visit https://checkout.square.site//che/YOK2JH3T2LB4TX5I5WRDI3BL

Opal Singleton spoke to our club this morning. She is the President and CEO of Million Kids, a non-profit organization directed to keeping children safe from predators. The organization serves as the Training Outreach Coordinator for the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force through the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Opal has educated more than 400,000 government and individuals about labor and sex trafficking, sextortion, child pornography, and social me...dia exploitation. She is the author of Seduced: The Grooming of America’s Teenagers. She is an instructor at the USC School of Social Work for the LA Police Department’s LEAD Program. Opal said that California has the most cases of human trafficking than any other state in the Union. There is now a Task Force on Human Trafficking set up in the city of Palm Desert. The PSUSD was represented today by Dr. Anne Kalisek and Deanna Bretado-Chavez. You may send your donations to: www.Millionkids.org See more

Peace & Good Will for all.

Warmth *Joy* Happiness May these all be yours during the holidays and in the coming year.

Our Club was a proud sponsor of the Palm Springs Unified School District Family Center’s Community Giving Day, serving 600 local families with children ranging from 0-18 years old.