Every year, we set aside Veterans Day to honor all the men and women who've served our country in uniform. We celebrate veterans from generations past. Thank you for your sacrifices and fice and service to our country. We salute to all the WHR Veterans! Happy Veteran's Day.
Our speaker for our November 17th meeting is Sonya Mendez. She has traveled to Ethiopia, Africa, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011 to participate in Rotary's Polio National Immunization Day (NID) and to bring pencils, pens, erasers and pencil sharpeners to school children there. This past October 2017, although the NID was postponed, she took pens, pencils, erasers and pencils sharpeners for children in Ethiopia. November is Rotary Foundation month and Sonya will talk about how the Foundation is working to eradicate polio from the face of the earth through these NIDs.
For Sonya, a professional singing career was the furthest thing from her mind while growing up on a dairy farm in Red Hill. “My intention wasn’t to sing, even though singing came naturally to me. It was to go to college and be a speech and drama teacher,” says Mendez, who still does the occasional theater bit - with her latest efforts coming in the South Pacific play that recently ran at Windward Community College. “I didn’t grow up with the idea that I was going to be an entertainer. In fact, it wasn’t until I was about 14 that I really began to study my art.”
By her senior year at Aiea High, Mendez was working at the Honolulu International Airport as a lei greeter, making “the minimum wage of $1.25” when she happened to catch an ad in the paper that requested “a singer-dancer for a show in Waikiki.” Turns out the ad was placed by Carole Kai, who had been looking for a back-up singer. Kai offered the job to Mendez and the youngster gladly accepted, despite the fact that her first gig on Maui happened to be on the same night as high school graduation.
“It was too glamorous a job to pass up,” recalls Mendez, who nowadays works as one of the judges on Hawaii Stars, the TV karaoke show hosted by - who else? - Carole Kai. “I was thinking, ‘Should I skip graduation or make money?’ In the end, I decided I was going to take the money!”
Since moving back to the Islands in 1998, Mendez has remained busy, working on her first CD (which will feature the already released hit Luau ChaCha-Cha) and doing community service, which included being president of the Kapolei Rotary Club.
Fern Elementary School, a school in our service area, has requested volunteers from our Club to participate in an clean-up day scheduled for Saturday, November 18, 2017, from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. The work entail cleaning and removing dead vegetation and tree branches that have accumulated behind school buildings. There will also be stenciling of drain conservation emblems or signs over the various waste water drainage collectors on campus. Please dress appropriately for yard work. Cleaning and painting implements will be provided but it doesn’t hurt for you to bring your own yard/gardening tools and gloves to protect your hands. If you feel inclined, please bring large trash bags to help collect the waste.
If you are interested in helping out one of the schools in the district that we serve, please sign up by clicking on the Doodle link that follows.
As Rotarians, we’re all about putting services above self so please sign up and show Fern Elementary School what Rotarians are all about! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Richard A. Ing Community Service Chair, Telephone: (808) 533-3999
Mark your calendar, save the date, it's Christmas time! WHR Christmas Party is on Dec 9, Oahu Country Club, 5:30 pm cocktail, 6:00 pm dinner, come and join us to share the holidays spirit, fun, joy, games and prizes.
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.
During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world. Did you know that some of the donations our West Honolulu Rotary members made to Annual SHARE fund in the The Rotary Foundation come back to our club after 3 years as a grant to fund our community and international projects? This year we are receiving $783.10 for community service projects of our choosing and $783.10 for a global grant. We must match these funds with our club funds. Last year, the grant funded the dictionary and speaker book projects and our global grant funds went to support and eye clinic in India. If you haven't made your annual donation yet, please consider signing up for "Rotary Direct" to make a on annual, quarterly or monthly donation from your charge card. Go to rotary.org/give. Choose the Annual SHARE fund and a portion will come back to our our in 3 years as a grant. Please consider also making a donation to the PolioPlus fund. Donations to either fund will get you Paul Harris points.
Last year, The Rotary Foundation contributions distributed $25M to get 494 District grants funded small-scale, short-term, district-sponsored activities that Rotarians used to address local or international needs, plus 1,165 Global grants were supported large international activities that had sustainable, measurable outcomes in Rotary’s areas of focus in the amount of $ 76M. Number of grants: 378 $ 27.0M Disease prevention and treatment 272 $ 18.9M Water and sanitation $ 165 9.2M Economic and community development $ 173 10.3M Basic education and literacy $ 93 6.9M $ 84 3.7M Peace and conflict prevention/resolution (excluding Rotary Peace Centers).Why should I donate to
So why donate to The Rotary Foundation? Your donation makes a difference to those who need our help most. More than 90 percent of donations go directly to supporting our service projects around the world.The Association of Fundraising Professionals recognized The Rotary Foundation with its annual Award for Outstanding Foundation at its 2017 conference in San Francisco.
The Rotary Foundation partners with other large organizations to make a bigger difference in the world. Rotary has added two service partners that offer clubs new ways to collaborate with other organizations and strengthen their projects: Habitat for Humanity and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).Habitat for Humanity has a long history of working with Rotarians and Rotaractors to build the types of low-cost shelters that now qualify for global grant funding, under a recent Board decision. It’s also a natural fit for Rotary’s approach to vocational service, which encourages members to use their professional skills to help others.
