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Spring 2018 Newsletter

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Members'of'the'Month'

rotaractucsd.org''

Facebook:''Rotaract'at'UCSD'

'Instagram:'

rotaract_at_ucsd'!

April:'Austin'Han'

May/June:'Maritza'Martinez'

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PB Beach Clean Up

Working alongside Pacific Beach Rotaract, UCSD Rotaractors helped clean Pacific Beach in this service event. Volunteers from both groups worked together to collect trash scattered throughout the beach. The advocacy group I Love a Clean San Diego was also involved in the event, distributing forms to volunteers to record what types of trash were found on the beach. They planned to present the data to elected officials and policy makers to advocate for anti-littering laws. For several hours, the volunteers were kept busy collecting items ranging from cigarettes to shoes while interacting with Pacific Beach Rotaractors. The event was a huge success, as Rotaractors collected and recorded several trash bags worth of litter for I Love a Clean San Diego. Rotaract’s efforts helped to not only clean up Pacific Beach for one day, but laid the groundwork for future advocacy.

La Jolla Concours d’Elegance

The La Jolla Concours d’Elegance was an amazing new service event that we had the opportunity to provide our services to this year. This glitzy luxury and vintage car show located on the cliffs of La Jolla Shores is hosted every year to mainly support the La Jolla Historical Society and other charities such as the La Jolla Rotary Club, the Monarch School, the USS Midway Museum and many others. Our members had the chance to volunteer all weekend long for many different tasks. On Saturday, a few of our members had an early morning at 5AM to help transport the vintage cars to and from various private collections. After the cars were set in their places, a fundraiser auction had commenced later that evening. Our volunteers who attended donned their best cocktail attire and not only helped out as a caller, but they were also able to enjoy unlimited hors d’oeuvres and drinks all night! Sunday morning was the main event day as most of our members attended to help escort and create a corridor for the presentation of the first place cars. We were also tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the exit row, and although we were exhausted by the end, the event coordinators were so impressed with our performance that they have invited us to help out again next year!

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Tree Planting in Julian

UCSD Rotaractors joined the Rotary Club of Coronado at a tree planting event in Julian, CA. After driving an hour inland to a hidden orchard and cidery, Rotaractors helped replant trees in the areas of the orchard that had been previously affected by fires. Under the bright sun and surrounded by the gorgeous views of Julian’s mountains, the volunteers hiked through the hills of the orchard, planting trees as they went. The event was a success; with the help of the Coronado Rotarians and other locals, over 1,000 trees were planted in just a few hours! The day ended with a tractor ride back to the barn where there was a small celebration that included food and homemade cider. It was so great to be a part of this intense restoration process, and the experience was incredibly valuable and fun!

Pancake Peeps

At the Pancake Peeps service event, UCSD Rotaractors served pancakes and drinks to the homeless population of San Diego. We initially met at Peterson Loop around 8:30am and then made our way to downtown San Diego to meet up with the Pancake Peeps organization. Before the event began, we set up several grill plates as well as tables on the sidewalk to cook pancakes and lay out toppings. This was a great opportunity for us to reach out to the homeless members of our community and provide some yummy food, joyful music, and friendly conversation. It was certainly an incredibly successful and inspiring event.

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Project Bell

While those over 21 were serving beverages at the Quintessential Festival, some Rotaractors went to Bell Middle School to tutor students. Every other week, volunteers of Project Bell, another UCSD service organization, help middle schoolers with math and science homework during Saturday school. On April 28th, we had the privilege of accompanying Project Bell volunteers to the middle school. Although it was quite challenging to keep the students engaged and motivate them to study and do their homework, it was extremely fulfilling to get to know the students and talk about what interests and excites them. We had a great time tutoring alongside the Project Bell volunteers and we look forward to joining them again.

Quintessential Festival

Our club teamed up with our sponsor club, La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary, for their annual Quintessential Festival. This beer garden festival invites members of the community to enjoy local breweries, distilleries, food vendors, and live music, with all sponsors and proceeds going towards funding the many projects that the Rotary club carries out during the year, several of which we are fortunate enough to join along in. This year, our Rotaractors helped sell pretzel necklaces, check in guests, serve drinks to attendees, and clean up. We are always grateful for a strong continued relation with our sponsoring Rotary club and look forward to celebrating their ongoing success.

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First Saturdays

On May 5th, Rotaractors volunteered with the organization First Saturdays, which aims to help fulfill the needs of homeless people. During the first portion of the event, we met at a designated area in downtown San Diego and organized donated and purchased materials that were to be given away. One group of people organized clothes by size, gender, and style while another group assembled care packages filled with essential items such as socks or floss. After this process, we made our way down to the Children’s Park to hand out all of the prepared items to anyone that was in need. In addition, we were given the chance to talk with people and learn about their experiences. Seeing how grateful the people we serviced made this such a rewarding experience.

Food Run

Once every quarter, we like to shake up our routine GBM by going out for a Rotaract dinner. This quarter, we chose to go to Tacos El Gordo, a popular food destination among many of our members that is well known for its authentic Tijuana tacos. Our members took up most of Tacos El Gordo’s outside seating area as we talked and enjoyed our food together. As a club, we value our close bonds as much as we value the service we do!

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Greyhound Adoption Center

Greyhounds have long been exploited for their ability to run at speeds as fast as 40 miles per hour. As a result, many greyhounds have been cruelly abused by those who only wish to race them. The Greyhound Adoption Center opened up as a response to the underground abuse in order take in greyhounds and regain the dogs’ trust and sociability towards humans. While there, we were divided into 3 groups. One group was sent to do yard work in the back to make room for a new stone pathway while another group stayed in the front to clean up a shed, and a third group worked on landscaping and pulling out weeds. The highlight of the afternoon was getting to interact with a few of the greyhounds. One of the dogs we got to meet, Vortex, was a friendly golden greyhound who was more than happy to have the attention.

Bonfire

After a long year full of amazing service projects and getting to know so many new people, it was nice to have time to come together as a club and hang out by the beach for our yearly bonfire. Everyone came down to La Jolla Shores on a Friday night to enjoy a great potluck and many great conversations! Some of us even ventured out into the water to enjoy the large waves crashing down on the shore. It was a fantastic night overall and we hope that you come and join us next year!

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Include Autism Gala

We usually just wear our Rotaract T-shirts and jeans when volunteering, but we dressed up the night of May 19th when we volunteered at the Include Autism Gala. Include Austism is an organization that aims to integrate autistic children into our community by helping participants develop social and functional skills. This year, the theme of the gala was Great Gatsby so guests came decked out in tailcoats and flapper dresses. At the event, we helped welcome and check in guests and run the live action. More than $15,000 was raised for Include Autism during the live auction! After helping tear down the event, we ended the night by lighting up sparklers and drinking sparkling cider to celebrate a job well done.

LJGT v.s. Rotaract Volleyball

This past May, our Rotaractors and La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotarians went head-to-head in a 6v6 volleyball game on the sand at Mission Beach. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and both teams definitely put all their efforts into throwing heat on the ball. We played three sets, and the final score was…2-1 with our Rotaractors as the victors! This was a great opportunity for all to go out and get some exercise, as well as spend some time getting to know the Rotarians of LJGT. We hope to repeat this event in the upcoming year and work on integrating a fundraising aspect based on the outcome of the sets. Thanks to all of our Rotaractors and Rotarians who participated in this game!

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Monte Tabor Monastery

Through networking with several Rotaract clubs in Tijuana, our club enjoyed an amazing and fulfilling opportunity helping at the Monte Tabor Monastery between Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico. Each month, several hundred people in need make a pilgrimage to the mount for religious devotion and in seek of aid. With three different Rotaract clubs in Mexico, we helped the monastery direct needing families, serve lunch to children, provide basic necessities, and translate between Spanish and English to American doctors and those in need of medical attention. Several Rotaractors agreed that it was one of our most fulfilling events yet; even those who could not speak Spanish fluently understood the impact they had. We are grateful for the friendships we formed with the Rotaract clubs of Tijuana Centro, Tijuana Oeste, and Tijuana Nueva Generaciones, and we look forward to working with them again in meaningful service.

Pacific Beach Clean Up

We wrapped up this quarter with the first service event led by Tiffany and Julian, our two new service directors! On the morning of Saturday, June 9th, 11 Rotaractors met up to help clean up a portion of Pacific Beach owned by the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary club. Members of our club grouped up in order to efficiently gather trash and maintain the beach’s beauty. Over the course of an hour, we managed to gather about two whole bags worth of trash, keeping Pacific Beach clean for future visitors!

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Rotaract Banquet 2018

To celebrate all of our hard work, service, and wonderful members this year, we put on our end-of-the-year banquet: a night filled with delicious food cooked by Rotaractor Aaron Vongsa’s mother, and festivities that celebrated 2017-18 Rotaract Board’s achievements as well as welcomed the new 2018-19 Rotaract Board. We also commemorated our graduating members, some who will sadly be leaving the San Diego area. And last but not least, we recognized our incredibly supportive Rotarians who helped us make this amazing year possible: Marty Rosenstein, Ina Von Ber, Jennifer Schaffer, and Fary Moini. Let’s give ourselves a pat on the back for an outstanding year of service, friendship, and goodwill! Karma Koins raised for our beneficiary GiveDirectly: $1000 Total Service Hours: 1430 hours (That’s almost 60 straight days!)! Overall winning family: House of Green Bananas

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Rotaract'Club'at'UCSD'Sponsored!by!international!service!organization!Rotary!International,!Rotaract!is!a!service!club!for!young!men!

and!women!ages!18+.!Modeled!after!similar!goals!and!standards!to!that!of!Rotary,!Rotaract!brings!together!

college!students!and!young!business!professionals!for!the!purpose!of!humanitarian!service,!networking,!building!

goodwill!and!promoting!peace!in!the!world.!As!one!of!the!fastest!growing!Rotary!programs,!Rotaract!on!the!

international!scale!includes!more!than!8,000!Rotaract!clubs!in!some!155!countries.!Each!individual!Rotaract!club!

is!sponsored!by!a!local!Rotary!club,!and!are!generally!either!university!or!community!based.!Each!chapter!has!its!

own!unique!personality,!sometimes!with!special!emphases!and!focuses!dependent!upon!the!array!of!members!

and!their!particular!interests.!Like!Rotary,!Rotaract!clubs!meet!on!a!regular!basis,!and!are!nonpolitical,!

nonreligious!and!open!to!anyone!interested.!Rotaractors!address!many!of!global!and!local!issues!pertinent!to!

today’s!society,!developing!projects!that!promote!service,!building!friendship!and!providing!a!forum!for!cultural!

exchange.!!

Check'out'other'Rotaract'clubs'in'our'district:'

SDSU!Rotaract!

USD!Rotaract!

CSU!San!Marcos!

City!Heights!Rotaract!

San!Diego!Rotaract!

Pacific!Beach!Rotaract!

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Check'out'other'I8House'Organizations'at'UCSD:'

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PROSPECT!

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ISSA!

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Rooms!in!IThouse!on!UCSD’s!campus!from!7pmT8pm.!!

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Thank'you'for'reading'the'Spring'2018'Newsletter!'A'huge'shout'out'to'the'2017818'Rotaract'Officer'Board.'This'amazing'year'would'not'have'been'possible'with'all'of'their'hard'work'and'time.''