Danville-Sycamore Valley Rotary

East Bay Equestrian Update: SonRise Equestrian Foundation Changing Kids Lives!

If you love horses can you imagine the impact a horse could make in the life a child at risk or who is disabled in some way?  Well, that dream is coming true every day for some very special kids in the East Bay everyday!  Melanie Buerke had this idea several years ago and the dream is now a realty – SonRise Equestrian Foundation at Charles Wilhelm’s horse training center on Crow Canyon Road.  Here is their mission statement:

“SonRise Equestrian Foundation is a non-profit organization making a positive difference for children and youth living with social, emotional, or physical challenges including terminal illness. Participating children develop confidence, integrity and responsibility through mentoring and peer relationships centered around the care and enjoyment of horses.” Read more

Danville-Sycamore Valley Rotary

Danville Sycamore Valley Rotary’s Annual Dictionary Project!

For the past several years the Rotary Club that I have been a member of since it was chartered in 1989 has distributed dictionaries to the 3^rd-graders of the San Ramon Unified School District. There were over 30 of our Rotary club members who participated in the distribution last week.  David Behring, president of the Wheelchair Foundation, and myself assisted with the dictionary distribution at Tassajara Hills Elementary. David and I went into the 3^rd-grade classrooms to the delight of the students.  As we were distributing them we had them help us look up words so they could learn how to navigate through the beautiful hardbound dictionary.  Some of the words were “service”, “Gila monster”, and “impertinent”..  As a student would find the word they would raise their hand, then stand up and read the definition.  I hope you agree with me when I say the love of reading is one of the most important skills a young student can learn.  Dictionaries are intended to bring words to life, and as a resource for students to use for many years. Read more

Danville-Sycamore Valley Rotary

Another Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary Community Service Project Is Completed!

Jim Walberg and his fellow Rotarians completed another map of the USA on the playground of Tassajara Hills Elementary School – 40 feet long and 25 feet high!  It is part of our continued support of education projects in our community.

Since our local Rotary Club was founded in April 1989 it has been serving the many needs of our East Bay communities.  During the past 20 years, we have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of people hours to address these local needs.  Many of our Rotary Club’s community projects have been focused on educational needs of our school districts.  We call one of them “The Maps Project”.  Several years ago we learned of a map painting kit that was painted on elementary school playgrounds to assist kids with their understanding of our country’s geography.  It sounded as if it was a winner of addition to any school. Read more