Six California clubs team up to improve community

Six Stockton Rotary clubs will work together to commit time, effort, and US$60,000 to four centennial projects.  The Rotary clubs of Stockton, North Stockton, Stockton Delta, Stockton East, Stockton Seaport, and Stockton Sunrise plan to finish the projects by February 2005.

Aimed at improving the community, the projects include:

* Improvements to the Rotary Club House, a double-wide trailer at San Joaquin General Hospital that provides temporary housing for family members of patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions.
* Replacement of a fence around the playground of Lagorio Learning Center, a facility operated by the Women's Center of Joaquin County.  The center provides counseling and support services for children who have been victimsof domestic violence.
* A new shade structure for picnic tables at the City of Stockton Weber Point Events Center.
* A playground for Walton Special Center, which provides education services to students ages 3 to 22 with severe mental disabilities who live within the Stockton Unified School District.

One member from each club serves on the centennial project committee, which selected the four projects from hundreds of ideas pooled together by all the clubs.  The projects chosen should cover a wide variety of community needs, says Bill Brown, president of the Rotary Club of Stockton.

"We solicited input from the community, asking what they thought the city's needs were," Brown says. "We could have easily chosen four different projects that would have been equally as valuable. We wish we could have met them all."

Sherri Reusche, past president of the North Stockton club, says the initiatives should leave a lasting impression.  The Rotary wheel and club names will be prominently displayed on all projects.

"We chose projects that would have the greatest impact and therefore fulfill the greatest need," Reusche says.  "We're spreading the wealth in our community, and letting people know that Rotary's been here 100 years."

Funding for the projects will come from various sources, including matching grants of $10 per club member from District 5220 and $100 per member donations in each club. Centennial project chair Terry Hull, from the Rotary Club of Stockton, says he's enjoyed collaborating with other area clubs on the project.

"We usually work independently, so it's been great to see all six clubs working so closely together for the community," Hull says.