Rotary

The Woodinville Rotary Club has announced plans for their annual Spring Fling auction and this year’s theme is The Roaring 20’s. The auction is the club’s largest fundraising event, which will be held on April 29, 2023, and feature a “raise the paddle” campaign to support Bridge Receiving Center’s efforts to provide a healing start for children entering foster care.

The Bridge Receiving Center provides a safe and nurturing environment for children who have experienced trauma or abuse. The center aims to reduce the trauma of being removed from their homes and placed in foster care by providing a welcoming and supportive environment, with trained staff and volunteers who offer comfort and care.

“Every child deserves a safe and loving home, and the Bridge Receiving Center is doing incredible work to make that a reality for children in our community,” said Sandy Kallio, President of the Woodinville Rotary Club. “Rotary is a peace building service organization, so our missions are aligned. We are honored to support their efforts and we hope our community will join us in raising funds to help them continue their important work.”

The Spring Fling auction will feature a variety of items up for bid, including vacation packages, gift certificates, and unique experiences. The highlight of the evening will be the “raise the paddle” campaign, during which attendees can make a direct donation to the Bridge Receiving Center.

“We know that every dollar makes a difference, and we are committed to raising as much as we can to support this important cause,” said Marilyn McGill, Chair of the Spring Fling auction committee. “We encourage everyone to join us for a fun evening of fundraising, and to help us make a difference in the lives of children in our community.”

The Woodinville Rotary Club’s Spring Fling auction will be held on April 29th at the Inglewood Golf Club. For more information on the event, to purchase tickets or to make a donation in support of Rotary’s initiatives, please visit the club’s website at:  https://woodinvillerotary.org/annual-fund-raising.

If you are unable to attend the auction, you can still make a donation directly to Bridge Receiving Center on their website at: https://bridgereceivingcenter.org/donate.

Article to appear in the Woodinville Weekly.

Woodinville, WA – While farmers and farm practices have evolved throughout the years, one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for cold storage refrigeration. Woodinville Rotary and Rotary District 5030 are working together to address this issue in the Sammamish Valley farming community with their innovative Keep it Cool, Keep It Fresh refrigeration project.

This isn’t the first time our community has taken on the challenge of providing cold storage refrigeration. As early as the late 1930s, when the effects of the depression were still strong, area co-operatives like the Grange Cold Storage Association provided refrigeration services for farmers and families needing to protect and prolong their fare. Now, almost 100 years later, faced with another era of food insecurity, people are beginning to re-embrace local food markets and farm fresh foods, while also educating themselves on their agricultural sources, sustainable living practices and climate action.

Organizers of the Keep It Cool, Keep It Fresh Refrigeration Project seek to aid small acreage farmers in the Sammamish Valley in their desire to bolster a sustainable food system while also supporting the environment. The project provides a cold storage unit located in the middle of the Sammamish Valley Agricultural Production District (APD), one of the most fertile valleys in the country, just 30 minutes outside of Seattle, WA.

Beginning in spring, this first of its kind refrigeration unit will be entirely solar powered, making it a uniquely off-grid farm refrigeration unit. With a generous grant from Rotary International and matching club funds from Woodinville Rotary’s Charitable Foundation, this unit will provide reliable storage for perishable products to small acreage farmers in the Sammamish Valley. Equally important is an additional investment from A Farm in The Sammamish Valley, LLC to provide for the construction of the solar array and the associated equipment to power the unit. We are very fortunate for this partnership with not only A Farm in The Sammamish Valley, LLC, but other community-supported organizations including 21 Acres, Sammamish Valley Alliance, Woodinville Rotary and Rotary District 5030 for collaborating to bring this essential asset to local farmers.

When farmed to full potential, the Sammamish Valley could supply local, organic vegetables to 80,000 people annually. These sustainable high yields are essential as climate change decreases yields in the Midwest and California. Long-practiced at producing food based on the principles of carbon sequestration and healthy soil management, Sammamish Valley farmers strive for lasting agricultural viability. As food chains become less predictable due to climate change, storms and pandemics, these local farmers serve an increasingly important role in providing food security to our community.

Woodinville Rotary and its Environmental Stewardship Committee have worked to bring non-profits and local organizations together in support of the environment, one of seven areas of focus identified by Rotary International. Bringing this focus directly into our community and addressing the pressing issues of food insecurity and food waste is more important now than ever before, as is supporting farmers that practice regenerative agriculture.

A recognition event is being planned for Earth Day 2021 to celebrate the Keep It Cool, Keep It Fresh refrigeration project in our community. For more information visit sammamishvalley.org.

The Rotary Club of Woodinville celebrated its 30-year anniversary on October 4 at the Lucky Spud Ranch. The event featured a performance by the ukulele band STRUM, which stands for Seattle’s Totally Relaxed Ukulele Musicians. Current Rotary president Erv DeSmet plays in the band.

Not only did the party celebrate 30 years of community stewardship and over two and a half million dollars raised, DeSmet said it also honored the deep friendships formed over time between the members.

There is a great recap in the Woodinville Weekly on Woodinville Rotary’s 30 years of serving the community. Looking forward to many more years of making a difference.

Happy Charter Anniversary!

See the full story in the Woodinville Weekly.

The Scholarship Foundation of Northshore has operated for nearly 32 years and has the support and participation of 65 families and organizations of the Northshore communities. These advocates of higher education provide college scholarships to graduates of our four high schools and at University of Washington Bothell and Cascadia College.

As one of 65, Woodinville Rotary Club has been a strong partner in this endeavor since 1988. The club has a vested interest in the work and success of the Foundation, having made a total investment in Individual Scholarship Granting Accounts (ISGA) of more than $111,500 since 1988. From it fund raising budget, the club has distributed $518,540 in scholarships through the Foundation and has supported operational costs of the Foundation with $46,800. The club’s investment in scholarships and the Foundation: $676,840 since the club’s charter.

The Foundation and supporters like Woodinville Rotary have awarded 1,700 scholarships since 1984, valued at $2.5 million. The investment base has grown from $5,661 in 1984 to $1.3 million in 2015.

The investments and operations of the independent Foundation are managed by a Board of Trustees consisting of members of the Northshore’s three major service clubs and from the community at large. Woodinville Rotary is represented by Eric Greenwood (Foundation president), Larry Leonardson (past president), Melissa Arias (secretary) and Steve Dolan (treasurer).

Recently, the Foundation embarked on a project to assist other families and organizations establish or maintain a scholarship granting program. The Foundation is available to help with the initial steps and in the administering of its application and selection processes.

Each May the Foundation holds a breakfast to recognize all recipients of Foundation scholarships. It is presented by the Rotary clubs of Northshore and Woodinville, and by Kiwanis Club of Northshore.

Learn more about the Foundation at sf-ns.org.

Five new $5,000 scholarships will make it possible for Scholarship Foundation of Northshore to increase its 2016 offerings by more than $30,000 to a total of $171,570. The five new grants increase to 65 the number of scholarships to be offered next year by the community-based organization for academic year 2016-2017.

“Our goal is to increase the value of scholarships for Northshore graduates and to provide more of them,” said President Eric Greenwood, noting that the average scholarship in 2016 will be $2,600 compared with $2,300 for 2015. The Foundation issued $140,970 in scholarships in 2015.

“A primary goal of our Foundation,” Greenwood added, “is to broaden the awareness and support throughout the Northshore community for the importance of scholarships for today’s graduates.”

The five new scholarships, all valued at $5,000, are:

1. Northshore Community Scholarship – This scholarship will be funded by investment proceeds from nine scholarship sponsors for whom lasting memorials were established in past years. All Northshore graduates are eligible to apply for this renewable scholarship.
2. Egon Molbak Service Above Self Scholarship – Northshore graduates planning to attend the University of Washington Bothell are eligible. The scholarship is provided by the family of Egon Molbak, founder with his wife Laina of Molbak’s Home and Garden store in Woodinville.
3. UW Bothell Rotaract Rotarian of the Year Scholarship – The Foundation and Woodinville Rotary Club will award this scholarship to a member of the UW Bothell Rotaract Club who exemplifies leadership and community service values.
4. Rosemary and Jim McAuliffe Family Scholarship – The scholarship is offered by State Sen. McAuliffe and her husband to a Northshore graduate.
5. Town of Grace Entrepreneur Spirit Scholarship – A bequest from an “entrepreneur” whose business life was in the town of Grace will provide a scholarship for a Northshore graduate or a student at UW Bothell, Lake Washington Institute of Technology or Cascadia College.

A complete listing and details for each of the 65 scholarships will be found at www.sf-ns.org. The website also includes application and nomination forms. Deadline for applications is Feb. 5, 2016.

Since being organized by nine members of the Rotary Club of Northshore in 1984, the Foundation has issued 1,700 scholarships valued at $2.5 million. It’s assets of $5,600 in 1984 have grown to $1.3 million from which investment proceeds fund almost half of the scholarships offered each year. The balance of the dollars come from families and organizations holding accounts in the Foundation or who provide scholarships administered by the Foundation.

The Foundation is managed by a board of trustees including Leslie Banks, John Buller and Peter Troedsson of Northshore Rotary; Al Haynes, Bob Stewart and Dick Ramsey of Kiwanis Club of Northshore; Steve Dolan, Eric Greenwood and Larry Leonardson of Woodinville Rotary Club; and community members Melissa Arias, Holly Call, Joanne Harkonen, and Leigh Henderson. Executive director is John B. Hughes and the Scholarship Program Coordinator is B-Z Davis.

In addition to the three Rotary and Kiwanis service clubs, the Foundation is supported by the Northshore Performing Arts Center Foundation, Woodinville Chamber of Commerce, Bothell Alumni Association, Richard and Lois Worthington Foundation, and Guidant Financial Services.