Project Updates

Wildland Brush Fire Truck

The brush fire truck was delivered to the Cucupah Indian Village Volunteer Fire Department. It was soon put into use fighting a small brush fire in the area. This project is the brainchild of Steve Rose, who saw the need and took charge of creating the solution.

Maui Fire Relief

SJC Rotary raised $37,000 to help with Maui Fire Relief. This note was received from the Rotary District Governor for Hawaii:

We are most grateful to you and the Rotary Club of San Juan Capistrano. You are people of action and are helping Create Hope for Maui. We have been overwhelmed with more than 6,000 donors to date.

I just returned from a full week on Maui, visiting the 9 clubs on the island, meeting with fire survivors and taking part in service projects. Maui Rotarians are working daily in many efforts to help the community. All clubs are meeting regularly and taking care of their members. There is still a lot of pain and grieving in the community, the loss is immense.

Funding proposals are reviewed weekly by a committee of Maui Rotarians, they are then funded through our D5000 Foundation. A transparent process that has given structure and organization to the effort. A total of more than $400,000 has already been funded. Though we are still in a time of emergency relief, the committee is beginning to consider intermediate recovery and long-term community rebuilding.

Various projects include sponsoring a Community Health and Wellness Fair last weekend for fire survivor families, Rotary bought food from local catering firms that have had significant business losses. Funds have been donated to the only burn unit hospital in the state to get specialized equipment to improve recovery time and handle more patients. The gas cards have been well received and additional funding approved, the cards come from a locally owned Maui company putting all the monies back into the Maui community. Vocational scholarships of $750 have been awarded to small business people that lost all their tools, supplies and equipment in the fires allowing a beautician to restart her small business, among others.

A new website, with current updates is now live. Please encourage folks to check out rotaryd5000foundation.org.

Dental & Vision Clinic

October 14th marked the 36th Dental & Vision Clinic in Ensenada, BC Mexico. 62 children were treated by the dental team while 88 kids and parents were examined for vision with 55 receiving glasses. In all, more than $53,000 of free services were provided. The team works with Dental Care for Children and Manteca Optical and is a joint project of SJC Rotary, Irvine Rotary and Club Rotario Ensenada Calafia.