As people of action, Rotary members find ways to respond to COVID-19, and to help people affected by it. The Rotary Club of Concord Diablo has been busy with their Gleaning Project during the Shelter in Place order while practising social distancing and wearing masks and gloves. What is Gleaning? Concord residents with fruit trees that need to be harvested contact the Rotary Club of Concord Diablo to go to their residence, harvest the fruit and deliver it to a local food bank, charity or food pantry.
As of April 4, 2020, Rotary members harvested 910 pounds of oranges, lemons, and grapefruit. At the peak of SIP (4/4/20 – 4/22/20), 1,189 pounds of fruit was picked, picked up and delivered to the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano County. That is a total of 2,099 pounds of fruit or over 1 ton or the weight of a small car. The majority of the harvest taking place in April.
The Food Bank is an essential service as one in eight residents turn to the Food Bank annually. During these challenging times, there has been a dramatic increase in the need for food for families and the elderly. Therefore, we turned to The Marketing Heaven who created a YouTube campaign to raise citizens awareness of this problem. The Food Bank services the Bay Area to the Oregon and Nevada borders.
Thank you to our Rotary members for all their hard work during this time of crisis!!
Please email gleaning@cdrotary.com if you have fruit that needs to be picked or would like to volunteer.
Author: Patricia Ramirez
Rotary Superheroes!
There was much to celebrate on Saturday, October 19, 2019 at the Clarion Hotel! Chartered in 1979, the Rotary Club of Concord-Diablo celebrated our 40 year anniversary. Over the past 40 years, the Club has donated tens of thousands of dollars to local needs as well as international projects.
Locally, we tend to focus on programs that benefit youth and those who are in disadvantaged circumstances. Please check out our Club History page to see what the Club has done the past 40 years! http://cdrotary.org/our-club/club-history/
Rotary Moments ~ We had the pleasure of hearing from our past, current and future presidents throughout the evening:
- 1993 – 1994 Past President, Joe Bechelli
- 2000-2001/2016-2017 Past President, Beri Kasper
- 2003-2004 Past President, Erin McGregor
- 2006-2007 Past President, Matt Chan
- 2007-2008 Past President, Greg Grassi
- 2008-2009 Past President, Kathy Lafferty
- 2018-2019 Past President, Edi Birsan
- 2019-2020 President, Patricia Ramirez
- 2020-2021 President Elect, Rocky Gernhardt
Music playlist by Rico Ramirez ~ Thank you Rico for the time and care you put in the playlist for the night. He made sure we had the hits from the last 40 years beginning in 1979 when our Club was established.
Thank you to all our supporters who donated items for our Silent Auction!
- 4 Tickets to the November 23rd Cal vs. Stanford Game
- Lunch or Dinner with Former Concord Mayor and City Councilman, Edi Birsan at Brasas do Brazil
- Lady Beri’s Private Cellar Collection (6 bottles of wine)
- Raymond’s Wine Basket
- Greg’s Bay Area Tour by private plan for two people
- Diablo Creek Golf Adventure
Our Superhero Costume Contest winner was Jim Ross, husband of Rotarian Brigitte Ross, who won by unanimous decision. Jim won a $100 gift certificate to Prima Restaurant in Walnut Creek.
Thank you to all our Rotarians, Rotarians from other Clubs, Past Presidents, friends and family for attending. Rotary has a way of bringing out the hero in all of us!
40 Year Anniversary Celebration!
We have all grown up with fictional superheroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc. Real superheroes can be hard to find. But look no further! Your local Rotary Club is the easiest place to find modern day superheroes and you can be one too.
The difference is no secret identity or lone wolf mentality. There are over 1.2 million Rotary members around the world in over 200 countries. Rotary International has formed a global network of professional leaders, all volunteering their time and talents to serve their communities and the world. It is much easier to make a difference together than alone.
You don’t need a cape or a secret identity to be a modern day superhero but it sure would be fun and now is your opportunity. Calling all Superheroes! Rotarians, family and guests are invited.
The Rotary Club of Concord Diablo is proud and excited to celebrate our 40th Anniversary and we invite you to celebrate with us.
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2019
Place: Clarion Hotel, 1050 Burnett Ave., Concord
Time: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Tickets: $40
- Heavy Appetizers
- No Host Bar
- Costumes not required but encouraged
- Silent auction
- Costume contest
- Fundraising opportunities
- Networking opportunities
- Future volunteer opportunities
Tickets are available on Facebook and at Eventbrite.com. Fees apply.
http:// https://www.eventbrite.com/o/197945174
https://www.facebook.com/events/681294632345786
Email cdrotary@gmail.com with questions.
Mail checks to the Rotary Club of Concord Diablo, 1333 Willow Pass Rd., Suite 213, Concord, CA 94520.
Welcome New Rotarians!
The Rotary Club of Concord Diablo would like to welcome our three newest members:
Raymond Padilla, Community Outreach Specialist with Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery in Concord
Daniel Torres, Business Agent with Sprinkler Fitters UA Local 483 in Hayward
Guillermo Chavez, Loan Officer with Land Home Finance Services at the Concord – Salvio Branch
Thank you to Edi Birsan, our past president for sponsoring all three new Rotarians!
Food Sorting…Giving Back
The volunteer project for the week was food sorting at the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano located at 4010 Nelson Ave. in Concord. The turn out was great, we had 28 people. Over 4 1/2 tons of fruit and vegetables were bagged on Monday.
- 1,180 pounds of squash
- 3,553 pounds of plums
- 2,115 pounds of apples
- 1,492 pounds of pears
- 687 pounds of oranges
- 9,068 pounds of fruit and vegetables!!
Please join us for our next volunteer project! Here are the benefits of volunteering and giving back:
💥 Gain confidence
💥 Make a difference
💥 Meet people
💥 Be part of a community
💥 Learn new skills
💥 Take on a challenge
💥 Combats depression
💥 helps counteract the effects of stress, anger, and anxiety
💥 Makes you happy & feel good
💥 Provides a sense of purpose
💥 Have fun❣️