St. Andrew's Children's Center work project

Ralphs Market grand reopening

In celebration of the ribbon cutting ceremony of Ralphs at Walnut and Culver, Irvine Rotary coordinated with Irvine Eagles Special Olympics of Southern California, Orange County Region team, and Boy Scouts Troop 691, to attend the event. The collaborative participation, was to jointly promote self confidence and self esteem through participation in sports and scouting. And that, sporting and scouting are for all, regardless of any physical limitation.

Each non-profit entity, Special Olympics and Boy Scouts Trooop 691, will receive a monetary grant from Ralph's Foundation to recognize the work they do for youth in Irvine Community. The grant will be used to fund future sporting and scouting projects.

The Ralphs Foundation gave the Irvine Eagles a $2,500 grant to help to underwrite sports during the upcoming Fall season. The grant will also help double the number of athletes participating in the Irvine Eagles bowling program.

Special Olympics provides a year-round sports training and competition program for men, women and children with an intellectual disability. Through the power of sports, the athletes gain important life skills and experiences that enhance self-confidence and self-esteem.

Irvine Rotary Club supports the activities of Irvine Eagles through sports uniform donations, volunteering at Special Olympics games, and joined baseball game attendance over the years.




Irvine Boy Scout Troop 691, received a $500 grant to help fund the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Troop 691 and Eagles Reunion this December 19, 2011.

Established in 2006, Irvine Rotary Foundation is the charitable arm of the Irvine Rotary Club. The Foundation has its own Board of Directors and Officers separate from the Rotary club, with the elected Officers and Directors drawn from the members of the Irvine Rotary Club. The Foundation has tax-exempt status under IRS code 501(c)(3), Charitable Corporation.

The Foundation raises money and makes charitable contributions in accordance with the following guidelines:

Contributions to schools for educational scholarships;

Charitable contributions for youth activities and to youth organizations within, or substantially benefiting, the Irvine area and/or California;

Other charitable organizations within, or substantially benefiting, the Irvine area and/or California;

Charitable organizations which help alleviate suffering in a time of crisis, wherever situated; and

Other charitable organizations approved by a majority of the Members of the Foundation.

Irvine Public Safety Partnership Awards

Mody Gorsky of the Irvine Rotary Club presents the Irvine Public Safety Partnership award to Anthony Johnson of Universal Protection Service for his invaluable assistance to the
Irvine Police Department in solving a series of recent vehicle break-ins at The Market Place. Assisting in the presentation are Irvine Police Chief David Maggard and Detective John Condon.

Irvine Rotary supports Irvine Adult Day Health Care

Kris Khurana and Cisca Stellhorn present Kimberly Beesom (center) with a $1,000 check to support the Irvine Adult Day Health Center. The IADHC was one of the casualties of the Governor Jerry Brown's decision to take away funding for community programs in an attempt to balance the California budget.

Semper Fi Fund

The Irvine Rotary Club has supported the Semper Fi Fund since its beginning. We were one of the first service clubs to help. It’s now their 7th Anniversary, and as the need is still there, our club continues to provide support and grants for our injured soldiers. The stories can be hard reading and the pictures tough to view, but they illustrate the unbroken spirit of these young people, the commitment of their families and the good work that is being done for them. Read about their bravery in the Semper Fi Fund’s latest newsletter.

Rotary club of Irvine brings the Laguna Playhouse live theatre performances to four Irvine schools

Irvine, CA, May 17, 2011… The Rotary Club of Irvine’s partnership with The Laguna Playhouse provided TheatreReach: Bringing Books to Life! performances in four Irvine elementary schools during the spring May 2011 tour of By The Great Horn Spoon!, a story about the California Gold Rush, according to Mody Gorsky, club president.

“We are delighted to provide funding for an Arts Access for Youth community grant in support of these performances. Community service and improving the quality of life within our community is “the heartbeat of Rotary.” Approximately 500 fourth grade students from Vista Verde, Stone Gate, Oak Creek and Canyon View Elementary Schools, many who would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience live theatre, attended these performances,” added Gorsky.

According to Donna Inglima, Director of Youth Education Programs at The Laguna Playhouse, the goals of TheatreReach include inspiring students in low-income schools to read their curriculum books and better understand what they have read, and to provide early exposure to live theatre for children who might not otherwise have access to this enriching experience.

Cash Bash Smash Success!

Dr. Austin Wall and Rick Topping announced the winners. Richard Milo projected the spreadsheet of winners and losers on the big screen so everyone could keep track.

The Irvine Rotary Club's annual Cash Bash was a smash success. Lots of winners and lots of fun.

The Grand Prize was won by Tim Wolin who donated his winnings back to the club's foundation to be used for projects.


Members and guests kept track of the proceedings on the big screen.

Rotarians at Work Day - St. Andrew's Children's Center, Irvine

Our annual Rotarians at Work Day project this year was at the St. Andrew's Children's Center in Irvine where club members painted, cleaned and helped create a new planter box. Photos are in the Photo Gallery.

Ensenada Dental Clinic

Members of Irvine Spectrum Rotary, along with Rotarians from Club Rotario Ensenada Calafia and a dental team from Dental Care for Children and USC Dental School, visited a school in the hills behind Ensenada to provide free dental services for school children.

While the dental team was treating 52 children, the Rotarians assisted, planted a vegetable garden and helped paint the school.

Over $26,000 worth of services were given away in the one-day event. After a quick-clean up the team we hosted to a fantastic carne asada dinner at the home of the Ensenada club's President-Elect.

BGSA Spring Carnival

The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana partnered with the Irvine Rotary Club to host the Spring Spectacular Carnival on April 8, 2011 from 2-5 PM. The carnival was open to all BGCSA members in the community and featured carnival games, activities, a bounce house, prizes, food and more for children under the age of 18.

The Irvine Rotary Club members provided 15 volunteers for the carnival. The volunteers assisted with the set-up of the event and ran activities and games throughout the day. With the Irvine Rotary Club's support, the carnival was able to raise $250 for the Club's Keystone Teen program.

The Spring Spectacular Carnival was hosted during the Santa Ana Unified School District Spring Break in an effort to promote positive activities during after-school hours and school holidays.

Ensenada Dental Clinic next Saturday, November 13

Our semi-annual Ensenada Dental Clinic is this coming Saturday.

The school is Maestros de Baja California, located in Colinas de San Angel, a very poor suburb of Ensenada and home to primarily immigrants from other parts of Mexico.

Following the clinic, we are invited to the Club Rotario Ensenada Calafia's XII Christmas Expo, the club's annual fundraiser.

It will be held in the Salon Casino of the Riviera de Ensenada Building on the main boulevard. There will be food, beverages, music and lots of things to buy.

If you are staying overnight at the Hotel Coral, please make your reservations soon.

JDRF Sit In/Protest UN-Walk.

This was the 16th year for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Shooting Stars family team to gather to raise money for diabetes research! And for our 3rd year in a row, we staged a Sit In/Protest UN-Walk. Over 50 “un-walkers” gathered, on the first sunny day we’d had in weeks…shared bagels, pastries and coffee, friendship and support…just WONDERFUL!

To date, we’ve raised over $6,000, with monies still coming in! And our t-shirt proved to be a “talking” point, illustrating the exciting new research, coming out of UCI and JDRF, involving the venom of sea anemones from a bay in Cuba.

For all your support and love, THANK YOU so very much!

With hugs,

Joanne Milo

Ensenada dental clinic a success

It is a pleasant, early Saturday and the people in the hills above Ensenada are gathering at the local Church, not for services, but to see the dentist. There is an air of excitement, since people who may have been in pain for weeks or months now have a once-a-year opportunity to have their worst dental problems fixed. The clinic is in the Iglesia Betesda church, located in the hills east of Ensenada. The pastor, Felipe Saurez de Jesus, has built this church with his own hands over the past decade to administer to the poor, mostly immigrant families from the southern parts of Mexico who move north looking for jobs. And it’s not his first. His previous church, also built by his own hands, sits on another hilltop about a half-mile away. His commitment to his parishioners and his community is what attracted Dr. Charles Tozzer to help almost a decade ago.

Dr. Tozzer founded Dental Care for Children, an Irvine based non-profit dedicated to helping children with free dental care wherever they may be. Presently, his organization participates in eight clinics a year; four in Mexico, two in Haiti and two in the United States. But he’s become a resource for other dentists and organizations wanting to set up clinics in other areas. With his help and assistance, there are now free clinics in Africa and Central America. DCFC has been providing services to this underserved part of Baja California for over eighteen years and have earned the gratitude of the entire community. There is always a line of people waiting for this annual opportunity to be seen by a dentist.

Each clinic’s primary aim is to do something for everyone but the volunteers realize that it is almost impossible to completely meet everyone’s needs. So they try to treat people who need help the most, or whose condition can be dealt with quickly. The dentists provide a real gamut of services from x-rays to crowns, from cleanings and fillings, even to root canals and dentures. But often, the only solution for many is to remove the teeth, which is done in about a third of the cases.

The 22-person dental staff, a few of them in their final studies at USC dental school and working under the supervision of the licensed U.S. dentists, provide more than $66,000 in free dental care during this visit.

Since there will be a follow-up visit in five weeks they are able to do impressions for crowns and partial dentures to replace missing teeth. The lab work is donated by U.S. companies to restore dental function for these people. They will also be able to evaluate the results of the hygiene services and training they provide to help these people keep their teeth.

Project funding is accomplished by direct grants and support from other organizations. The Irvine Rotary club has been a key sponsor, each year underwriting two of the clinics in Ensenada and one in Irvine. Irvine Rotary pairs up with the Rotary Club of Ensenada Calafia to select and manage two projects that are held in local elementary schools. The local club works with the Ensenada school district to select the school most in need. On one Saturday, the clinic is open to all the children who attend the school. The children get their teeth checked and fixed while the parents, Rotarians and teachers help fix up the school.

Dental Care for Children makes sure that everything is done using the latest in equipment and in compliance with local rules and regulations. They prepare extensive paperwork that has to be submitted to both U.S. and Mexican Customs, certifying the origins, dates of manufacture, and usages. In order to comply they are greatly helped by the advice and assistance of Señor Héctor Higuera, the Chief of Tourist Assistance, who has been very clear and helpful about the requirements and paperwork required to allow for a smooth and problem free border crossing. For this trip, Señor Higuera met the team at the border and complimented them on their service and attention to detail in preparing all of the necessary forms to make the border crossing easier.

Rotary and Angels team up against Polio

On Saturday, July 31, several of our members participated in the the District's 3rd annual polio fundraiser at Angel Stadium. Rotary's #1 mission, in conjunction with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is to eradicate polio worldwide, by vaccinating every child in the countries that still have this crippling virus.

The event started with a fun tailgate party (and more fund-raising) - a chili cook off contest! Cisca Stellhorn, Diane Braasch, and Joan Sarver cooked and served a variety of home made chili dishes (Joan's "Kick Ass Chili" was my personal favorite, with Diane's milder but very meaty "Chicago" a close second - and Cisca's turkey one not far behind). I know we got a lot of votes, and hopefully we won, but the winning was in the socializing we all did!

For the non-chili lovers, Ray Benedicktus put on his apron and got out his barbecue tongs, making delicious hamburgers and hot dogs - as if having arranged for all the ticket and T-shirt sales wasn't enough - thanks Ray!

We were honored to have a group of Marines from the Wounded Warriors battalion join us with their family/girlfriends - thanks to the coordination of former Marine, Rick Topping. With several former Marines in our club, this is one of the primary organizations we support - not only with donations and other funding, but with as much "hands on" participation as we can. It was a pleasure to meet these brave soldiers who sacrificed their health for our nation's safety and freedom - we thank them and wish them a speedy recovery!

This was also a Birthday party for Mary Mar, who came to celebrate with both her families (her own, including her cute granddaughters, and her Rotary family!). We sang Happy Birthday and ate delicious cake!

Our youngest "future Rotarian", John Lincoln Alcorn was there - all dressed up in his Angels outfit - and learing how to party with his Rotary family at the ripe old age of 102 days!

Several others were there, including Ed Hardenburgh, Dale Ford and his son, Austin and Barbara Wall, Randy and Pam Woods, Mark and Susan Brubaker, Tony Mucia and his daughter Megan, Woody and Deana Jones, Ray B's girlfriend and son Ian, Cisca's nephews, Diane's daughter, and our esteemed past District Governor Bret Gerdes and Natalie (am I missing anyone?!)

Then it was off to the game - and prime seating on the Club level (with in-seat service all evening long). While the game wasn't all that thrilling (except for the Angels home run with the fireworks - but they lost 1-2 to the Texas Rangers), a fun time was had by all - and all for a good cause!

Roll on our 4th Annual Angels event for polio in 2011!

Haiti Clinic

By Ray Sanford

The program this week was about the Dental Care for Children project in Haiti. Rotarian Austin Wall, DDS and Chuck Tozzer, DDS traveled to Les Cayes, Haiti to hold a dental clinic for orphaned children.

You can see the photos here.

Irvine Dental Screenings

By Ray Sanford

The Irvine Dental Screenings project went off without a hitch on Saturday.

We set a new record. We saw 126 kids — 40% more than last year!

Dr. Tozzer and Dr. Wall were both from Dental Care for Children and have participated every year since the inception of this program. Amazingly, they'd just returned from doing several clinics in Haiti! 

You can learn more about the work Dental Care for Children does at  http://www.dentalcareforchildren.org

The Assisteens, as usual, were organized, efficient and in control. Kudos to Tricia and Lizzie, who planned, scheduled and trained the young women so well there were no hiccups. Great work!

Our veteran school nurses had everything ready to go and kept all the forms, kids and parents organized. I'm sure it was like herding cats at times, but it never showed.

School Board member Dr. Gavin Huntley-Fenner dropped by for a visit so we put him to work being a dental assistant to Dr. Tozzer. It's no wonder the IUSD runs so well with people like Gavin on the board.

Goodies and coffee were provided by Todd Wardlaw at The Corner Bakery in The Marketplace. Many thanks for their continued support. Please patronize Corner Bakery and let them know how much you appreciate their support.

Photos of the event are here.