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Still not too late to

Donate

1) To Rotary Foundation

Fellowship

1) Belly-Bolly Fellowship event: Educational, Fun, & Tasty evening! Fabulous food, music, and dance! Saturday,March 19th, 6pm-9pm

Volunteer

1) 3rd Monday of the month - Food Prep at Martha's Kitchen

2) Every Wednesday (1pm to 3pm) - Food Distribution to Seniors with West Valley Community Services

Please click on this link for more information

Be the reason someone smiles today.

Looking ahead to the famous Rotary Club of Saratoga Art Show

As I pen this letter four days before our 63rd Rotary Club of Saratoga Art Show, I think of how the Art Show started in the Spring of 1960 in Saratoga Village. In Warren Heid's history of our club, then Club President Frank G. Davis organized a community service project which showcased local artists to the community. This was the beginning of our Art Show. By 1980, the Art Show had outgrown the space in the Village which led President Martin LeFevre and his board to move the Art Show to West Valley College. Then, in 2015, James LeBlanc and team decided to make it a two-day event.

The Art Show is more than just a fundraiser. It builds camaraderie, fellowship and our connection with the community. We have heard stories of BBQ, the famous pepper-bellies, and strawberries with cream, all accompanied by amazing wines. Julie Herndon reminded us at our last meeting of how her three boys grew up helping at the Art Show and look forward to being part of it even today. Paul Conrado and his trucks, the large trailer, the pre- and post-Art Show parties are all stories in themselves. Rotarians have been very effective cooks, musicians, artists, bankers, operations experts and staff. There is something to do for everyone.

Thanks to all the hard work and earnings, our Saratoga Rotary Charitable Foundation has been able to grant over $2.5 million to nonprofits serving the needs of the community. In addition, these funds also support all the community and youth service projects in the club.

It has been a challenging year to get the Art Show planned after a two-year hiatus. During this period, community members have been eagerly waiting for us to resume the Art Show. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank the Art Show Chairs, Carol Woodard and Alba Alamillo, as well as the committee, for all their hard work in planning and staging this wonderful event for our club and community.

Sangita

Marthas Kitchen Truck Success Story

The Rotary club of Saratoga is delighted to inform the community that we have successfully completed a project to provide a refrigerated box truck to Martha’s kitchen in San Jose.

This truck will be used for moving food from food banks and donation sites while maintaining food quality and safety to deliver completed meals and groceries and transport supplies as needed.

Pandemic related job loss has resulted in an explosive rise in food insecurity in Santa Clara county. Food distribution programs are seeing a 200 to 300 percent increase in food requests during the pandemic. Seeing this need while performing food preparation community service at Martha's Kitchen, the Rotary Club of Saratoga initiated a project to secure funding for a refrigerated truck. This was a herculean task but we were able to successfully complete it. The club would like to thank Second Harvest Food Bank, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and Rotary Clubs of Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Bangalore West India and Rotary Clubs of Area 6 for allowing us to fulfill our vision. We are blessed that we together are able to serve the community we live in.

International Services

International Service Projects

Kenya and India 2020-2021
- Deliver easy access to potable water for the villages of Kaikol and Nkudet in Turkana County, Kenya. It will serve a total population of approx. 5000
- Provide four ventilators to a COVID hospital in Bangalore, India.
USA 2020-2021
- Refrigerated truck for Martha’s Kitchen
- Sensorimotor room for children with special needs at Franklin-McKinley School
India and Africa 2019-2020
- Advanced treatment facilities to an Eye Care Hospital to handle Diabetic retinopathy and Glaucoma cases in Bangalore, India.
- LEAD Africa (LEAD) Empower Africa’s future leaders through quality education and sports.
Africa and Mexico 2018-2019
- Renovate classroom and toilet facility and modernize the existing cafeteria and hostel facilities for Madonna School for Children with special Needs at Nigeria, Africa. .
- Refurbishing the bathrooms in an Orphanage at Mexico, Guadalajara.