SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club – April 2024

City of Tucson Muti-Disciplinary Outreach Team Invited to Speak to the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club

Guest speakers Thelma Magallanes, Elle Millyard, Alex Manriquex, Laurie Distel, and Zion Alderette from the City of Tucson Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team

Frank Shipton

Guest speakers Thelma Magallanes, Elle Millyard, Alex Manriquex, Laurie Distel, and Zion Alderette from the City of Tucson Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team (MDOT) were invited to speak to members of the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club on March 21. The subject was MDOT’s project promoting permanent housing and financial stability, health, and well-being among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness through encampment outreach.

Interested? Join members of the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club and determine how best you can support the needs of MDOT through their volunteer program at the City of Tucson (Housing First) Housing & Community Development.

67 SaddleBrooke Rotarians Touch the Lives of 11,780 Area Residents in Nine Months!

Members of the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke’s Community Service Committee: back row (left to right): Keith Gordon, Kimberly Johnson, Jim Dolian, John Howard (chair), Linda Howard, Liese Razzeto, and Diane Demeroutis; front row (left to right): Linda Daubers, Jack Hunter, and Jim Frye

Barbara Barr Bengen

Recently, the District Governor of Rotary District 5500, Don Jorgensen, encouraged Rotarians to think about their volunteer work in terms of the number of lives they touch. That’s all it took for John Howard, the chair of the Community Services Committee, to put a pencil to his stats.

Chronologically listing the wide range of Community Services projects since the Rotary year began in July, John found some fascinating numbers. Now, bear in mind, these are only the statistics for the Community Services Committee. This doesn’t include the volunteer work of the Next Generation (Youth) Services Committee, the Vocational Committee, the Peace Committee, the International Services Committee, or any other of the busy club committees!

Under the direction of John and the Community Services Committee, so many lives were touched in so many heartwarming ways. It’s with great joy that we help the community of Oracle have a small-town 4th of July celebration. We assist with children’s holiday parties in Oracle and San Manuel. And then, of course, there is the heartfelt Senior Holiday Dinner we cook and serve to area clients of IMPACT of Arizona. Holiday dinners are also delivered to people who are ill at home. However, one of our all-time favorite events is passing out the fixings to put Thanksgiving dinner on the table for those who could not otherwise celebrate Thanksgiving. But these are just a few of our local service projects.

Day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, SaddleBrooke Rotarians and the Community Services Committee keep touching the lives of others:

1. Collecting hygiene items for IMPACT clients

2. Preparing IMPACT senior boxes

3. Packing IMPACT food bags

4. Assisting with the San Manuel National Night Out

5. Helping prepare and serve Oracle Community Center monthly lunches

6. Participating in San Manuel Coppertown Day

7. Baking cookies for senior holiday baskets (outside of SaddleBrooke)

8. Preparing senior holiday baskets for those outside of SaddleBrooke

9. Adopting a number of children for Adopt-A-Child

10. Providing the collection and sorting for Fueling the Future

11. Providing funding and volunteers for Wreaths Across America in Marana and Oracle

12. Teaming with the San Manuel Elks Club to provide a holiday party for children and youth

13. Sending Valentine’s Day cards to IMPACT clients

14. Continually assisting with sorting and any help needed at the Tri-Community Food Bank

Remember, this is just the work of the Community Services Committee. Imagine when you add in the lives we touch through the services of the other committees. For example, the International Committee just installed fresh water in 23 crowded Nogales schools. Since each school has double sessions of classes, imagine how many children and their families now have clean water to drink.

The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke meets on Thursdays at the Ranch House at SaddleBrooke Ranch. We have lunch in the dining room at 11 a.m., followed by a meeting and program in the ballroom. Come visit and help make a difference in the world!

For more information, contact Diane Demeroutis at [email protected].

SSR Members Support the Annual SaddleBrooke Tri-Community Food Drive

Frank Shipton

From preparing food boxes to sorting donated food products to loading filled boxes for transport to Tri-Community Food Bank distribution centers, SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary members volunteered with enthusiasm.