Blog: Albany Rotary Starts Year with a Bang!

has begun our 2012-13 year with a bang! On Aug. 19, we partnered with the Boy Scouts at our fundraiser at . Rotarians and Scout leaders and parents sold beer, hot dogs, soda and water at the Sunday “Dollar Day” event. By joining forces with another organization, Rotary not only raises money for our many local community and global projects we also enable other participants to earn money for their programs.

• Last year’s recipients of Rotary donations for international projects were the Rotary Foundation, Ali Kuru, children’s dental project in Ecuador, and a Tanzania water project. 
• Our local community also benefited from Albany Rotary. We continue to support a , the men and women who work for the horse owners who board their hoses at Golden Gate Fields.
• We are purchasing a “shaken baby doll” which very clearly demonstrates the damage done to the brain by shaking a baby. This doll will be loaned to schools and other appropriate agencies for parent education classes.
• Rotary sponsored a team in both Albany Little League and Albany Berkeley Girls Softball.
• Each week a book is donated to one of the Albany Schools in the name of our meeting speaker.
• For the second year, we will be providing dinner to Relay for Life participants.
• Rotary awards a scholarship to a deserving high school senior each year from the Joe Villa Scholarship fund which was started many years ago by long time Albany resident and Rotarian, Joe Villa.

A wide variety of speakers have entertained and educated Rotarians this year.  reminded us of the of World War II, Tod Abbott gave us some internet marketing tricks, Brian Parsley explained why “beer is the new wine”, Alan Riffer told a fascinating story of fraud against his employer, Kathryn Javandel shared her philosophies of “Legal Process vs Ends Justify Means Activism”, and Michael Barnes UC Science Editor, discussed a “Healthy Relationship with Cell Phones”. The coming weeks promise more diverse and interesting speakers.

Rotary International is the world’s first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. More than 1.2 million business and professional men and women make up the membership of these clubs. We give our time and effort to help others through service in our local communities. We also assist in projects throughout the world by supporting Rotary International, our parent organization.

Please see our website, www.albanycarotary.org, for more information about our Club as well as Rotary International.  Membership in the Albany Rotary Club is by invitation. If you are interested in learning more, please ask a current member, or email Aaron Gobler, Membership Chair, agobler@albanycarotary.org..  A qualified candidate for Rotary club membership is an adult of good character and good business, professional, or community reputation. The candidate fits the following criteria:

• Works or lives within Albany or within a city/unincorporated area immediately adjacent to Albany.
• Holds or is retired from an executive position with discretionary authority in any worthy and recognized business or profession and/or community volunteer work.

Albany Rotary would love to see you at one of our meetings on Tuesdays at 12:30 at Solano Grill and Bar to learn more about Rotary.