Two of the events we covered on Saturday had a fortuitous meeting of the minds afterward .. thanks to Martha for the followup photo and report:

After its book sale yesterday, Sanislo Elementary generously donated its leftover books to the West Seattle Rotary Club’s “Books for the World” book drive. Photo is of Sanislo and Rotary volunteers. Both the sale and the book drive were successful thanks to the help of all the donors, shoppers, and volunteers (and WSB coverage)!

Martha Sidlo
West Seattle Rotary

If you haven’t caught up with yesterday – our report on the Rotary book drive was here, and the Sanislo sale here.

Just look for the truck in the 40th/Alaska parking lot – and the banner! Volunteers from the Rotary Club of West Seattle has been out in the morning’s mercurial weather (still slushing when we stopped for our photo), collecting Books for the World. Here are details of what they’re collecting, in our preview from earlier this week. They’re scheduled to be there till 1:30 pm.

Your donation of new and lightly used books will be gratefully accepted by the West Seattle Rotary Club on Saturday, March 17th, between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the empty used car lot on the southeast corner of SW Alaska Street and 40th Avenue SW – just west of the Howden-Kennedy Funeral Home at 3909 SW Alaska Street. Books will be distributed to underserved communities in South Africa, Haiti and Guatemala through Rotary’s Books for the World – 2012 campaign. Cash donations of any amount are welcome to help with the cost of shipping the books overseas. Make checks payable to “5030 Service Fund” and send West Seattle Rotary, c/o Martha Sidlo, 7500 34th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98126.

We asked what kinds of books they’re looking for:

Books for all ages are welcome, for example: Picture/story books (pre-K and up), teen and adult fiction, K-12 textbooks in sets of 10 or more (world history is okay; U.S. history is discouraged), current professional books (medical books, international law, etc.), encyclopedia sets (less than 20 years old), as well as magazines such as National Geographic or Smithsonian (please, no news magazines).

The news release we just received from the First Citizen Award’s sponsoring organization, Seattle-King County Realtors, quotes award-committee chair Roni Strupat: “Rather than single out an individual, we are delighted to honor an organization with remarkable dedication – and results — in meeting the challenges associated with hunger, poverty and illiteracy.” District 5030 will officially receive the award at a Seattle Sheraton banquet on June 13th. Read on for the district’s accomplishments, listed in the announcement:

· Partners for Work, a project developed by the Rotary Club of Auburn in 2003. It creates employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities by utilizing Rotarian business leadership as a vital link between job candidates and paid work.

· The Third Grade Dictionary Project, a literacy program that provides dictionaries to all third grade students living within the area of the district’s 53 clubs.

· Rotary First Harvest (RFH), a project started by two members of the University District club in 1982. Since then, RFH has gathered more than 100 million pounds of produce for food banks in Washington state and other needy parts of the region. Along with feeding the hungry with surplus nutritious food, the RFH project has expanded to include improving food distribution and transportation systems, developing innovative hunger relief solutions and replicating the concept in other geographic areas.

The announcement also quotes the district governor:

Liberato hopes the award will further understanding of Rotary’s worldwide impact and inclusiveness. “What many people may not realize is that Rotarians are a mix of young to old, all ethnicities, and all religions united around service and the greater goal of getting to know each other to achieve a more peaceful world. The organization is a wonderful combination of friendship, networking and service locally, regionally and globally.”

Like other First Citizen Award recipients, Rotary has myriad achievements within King County and beyond.

One of the most significant may be its international flagship program to eradicate polio. “We are reminded in this global economy that if we do not eradicate polio it is only one airplane ride away from infecting the United States once again,” Liberato remarked. The campaign, spanning more than 25 years, is nearing completion thanks in part to generous cohorts, she stated. Liberato singled out partnerships on PolioPlus with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH (a nonprofit catalyst for global health) as an example of Rotary’s collaborative spirit.

Since 1985, when Rotary International created its PolioPlus immunization program, the organization has contributed more than $1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protecting more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. With its community-based network worldwide, Rotary is the volunteer arm of a global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. At its 2009 Rotary International Assembly, the organization received a $355 million challenge grant from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

At the local level, Liberato said there are numerous parks around King County that Rotary Clubs have donated and maintain. And, she added, “Many of our young people obtain Rotary scholarships that provide opportunities for higher education at both vocational and university levels.”

“Rotary is all about giving back to their communities, said Liberato, a member of the Rotary Club of West Seattle. “I find it amazing that, as far as I know, we are the only organization in the world whose club members pay their own way for international service projects. “Rotarians who participate in a National Immunization Day in India or help install malaria nets in Zambia have spent their own money, along with investing their time, to make a difference.”

Last year’s First Citizen Award went to former Seattle Mariner Jamie Moyer and wife Karen Moyer.

The West Seattle Rotary Club is identifying and nominating West Seattle qualified and interested West Seattle high school students (13-18) to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Seminar (at no cost to the student or school). The conference will be held at Pacific Lutheran University March 1-4, 2012.

RYLA is an intensive leadership training conference and workshop. The program has been carefully designed to provide basic leadership training and experience for young people from Western Washington and Canada. The program will include lectures and discussion periods with skilled and prominent leaders, as well as recreation, good food, and fellowship.

It’s a great way to further develop leadership talents and abilities, add to your resume, and broaden your horizons while having fun.

If you are an interested high-school student, please fill out an application by February 15th 2012. Applications may be sent via e-mail to tarambyrne@gmail.com or via fax at 206.932.2326. For more information visit rylanw.org

The application form can be found here.

We’re in the SODO Sears/Starbucks building right now along with hundreds of people from teens through seniors, all volunteers who are here with one mission: To make this a happier holiday for about 100 kids from local elementary schools. It’s the annual Rotary Club of West Seattle Children’s Holiday Shopping Spree, and as those kids arrive, they’ll be matched with volunteers for a busy morning including breakfast, choosing warm clothing – our top photo shows volunteers, sorting – shopping, talking to Santa, and more. It’s a herculean effort to organize and stage:

ADDED 7 AM: That hallway suddenly filled, as the first kids arrived:

The kids participating today are from Alki, Lafayette, Gatewood, and Roxhill Elementary Schools, Pathfinder K-8, and Concord International School. Volunteers include not only West Seattle Rotarians, but also members of the National Panhellenic Council of Seattle and its associated sororities and fraternities (Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Alpha Psi) – plus the Loren Miller Bar Association, and youth volunteers (we just met a group from Tukwila’s Foster High School):

ADDED 8:10 AM: More photos – from just part of the crowd of more than 300 volunteers:

… to the actual shopping!

We’re sitting next to a table with two volunteers and a little girl, making a list as they ask her what she’s interested in finding; this is all about practical gifts like warm clothes and shoes, and yet it’s a fun and festive atmosphere too (a table away, other volunteers are decorating the area where Santa will start meeting with the kids a bit later … update, he arrived to cheers and applause at 8:35 am).

ADDED: And even more photos, ahead, including a visitor from the Seahawks!

We spotted Seahawks player Brandon Mebane right before Santa’s appearance:

One key component of this massive morning-long operation is humor and good cheer among the volunteers. While we chatted with Rotary District 5030 district governor Ann Liberato, we asked if she would pose for a photo “near” Santa (who at that point was still awaiting the kids’ arrival):

West Seattle Rotary president Sue Lindblom (left center) and friends sported smile-inducing hats:

And even by that point, many had been working for hours – starting well before dawn, sorting and staging:

Then once the kids arrived, there was sizing …

And maneuvering out of the breakfast/Santa/lunch arrival area, over to the Sears store next door:

… and through the store:

… while back at operation HQ, there was decorating to be done …

… before Santa and elf could meet their new friends:

This was the 38th annual Holiday Shopping Spree – and even if you haven’t been part of the volunteer operation, you can still be part of making it possible for this to continue, through donating to the fund that helps pay for it all. There’s a donation page on the WS Rotary site.

Planning winter travel? The Rotary Club of West Seattle and its fellow area Rotarians send news of a group headed out on a particularly exotic journey:

Only one more week to go before local area delegates from Rotary District 5030 leave the comforts of Seattle for Nepal. As posted over the summer, Rotary’s Group Study Exchange is a vocational exchange program that is sending a team of young professionals to Nepal (December 2011 – January 2012). Three of the five delegates are from West Seattle and two are sponsored by the West Seattle Rotary. Learn more about the program and the team – they could be your neighbors – and follow them along on their Himalayan adventure at gse2011seattle.blogspot.com.

Tomorrow morning, by the way, Rotary members have a big event a lot closer to home: With the help of volunteers and donations, they will be helping 100 local kids have a happier holiday season through the annual Children’s Shopping Spree. If you’d like to chip in, there’s a donation link on their official website, here.

(WSB photo from 2010 Rotary Club of West Seattle Children’s Shopping Spree)
Another giving opportunity this holiday season – you can be (a) Santa without the beard, suit and hat! Very early the morning of December 3rd – so early that most years we’ve covered it, the ground and pavement are still frost-covered – the Rotary Club of West Seattle will deploy volunteers for a huge operation that means happier holidays for 100 local kids, the 38th annual Children’s Shopping Spree: They get a bus ride across the bridge to Sears SODO, where they get to choose gifts both practical and fun, including warm coats and clothing, as well as breakfast, lunch, and Santa photos! You don’t have to be a Rotarian – nor do you even have to get up at 6 am! – to be part of this. You can contribute to the shopping-spree fund online by going here, or mail a donation with the form you’ll find here. (Here’s our coverage from last year.)

From Heidi Horwitz, fundraising chair for the Rotary Club of West Seattle:

One bag, two bag, red bag, GOLF BAG… Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled purses, yearning to be worn; the wretched refuse of your teeming closets and drawers just in time for Christmas shopping! Friday; December 2nd, 12-1:30 pm, West Seattle Golf Club Banquet Room. Luncheon and purse sale with mini-auction of 10 premium items; just in time for Christmas gift-giving!

This fundraiser will consist of sales of donated purses, men’s wallets, and golf bags that are either new, have been pre-owned, or as we like to say: ‘Gently Used.’ Proceeds from this luncheon event will benefit the West Seattle Rotary Service Club. The West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation is a 501 C-3 nonprofit organization.

We hope that you can join us for the fundraiser, but if you cannot attend the event itself, perhaps you will consider making a donation of purses, wallets, or golf-related items.

You can e-mail Heidi at heidihorwitz@comcast.net to find out how to donate. Tickets to the event are available at westseattlerotary.org.

One week till the first day of school for Seattle Public Schools (some independent schools start earlier), and this gathering in Westwood tonight was good news for local students whose families can’t afford school supplies – it was the annual Pencil Me In For Kids sorting party.

Rotary Club of West Seattle president Sue Lindblom, Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) owner and longtime PMIFK ringleader, says “Rotarians and friends who signed up to help us sort out those school supplies” planned a potluck barbecue after the work was done. Tomorrow, the supplies get delivered to a pickup site, and this year, PMIFK got extra help, Sue says: “West Seattle Helpline donated money and 100 extra backpacks they had!” PMIFK also will benefit from raffles at the upcoming West Seattle Junction Car Show on September 18th, organizer Michael Hoffman of Liberty Bell Print and Design has announced.

P.S. One more note from Sue: “There have been many shifts in Family Support Workers over the years and this year we were not able to get responses from two schools that usually receive some of these supplies. We are hoping if they still are in need they will contact us. Those two schools are Alki and Concord.” PMIFK contact info can be found here.

If you watched Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade from north of Genesee, you missed out on the freeform fun of the WS Rotary Kiddie Parade, which invites any and all local kids to travel the three blocks south of Edmunds, between the motorcycle drill teams and the rest of the parade. Kids walk, bike, ride in wagons and strollers, and even perform – the Denny International Middle School Marching Band is part of it – here’s our video of the Kiddie Parade in its entirety, recorded at California/Alaska:

Leading the parade and carrying the flag was Sue Lindblom, West Seattle Rotary president and owner of longtime WSB sponsor Illusions Hair Design.

At this week’s Rotary Club of West Seattle lunch meeting, new president Sue Lindblom (from longtime WSB sponsor Illusions Hair Design) and new District 5030 Governor Ann Liberato paused for a photo-op with the brand-new banner celebrating the club’s status as home to the district governor. Busy times for the Rotarians – with several upcoming events, including a first-ever wine-tasting fundraiser:

*JULY 12 – the Rotary Kiddies’ Parade right before the West Seattle Grand Parade, all kids welcome to march, ride, walk, roll, 10 am, California/Genesee (“>pre-register here)

*JULY 22-23: Next round of the three-round Rotary Berry Sale (WSB sponsor) – raspberries will be ready for pickup. Order in advance, online.

*AUGUST 4 – the club’s 1st annual wine-tasting event/auction, with live music, “heavy hors d’oeuvres,” and of course, the wine! 5:30 pm, full details here. This is a fundraiser for the Rotary’s Children’s Holiday Shopping Spree and other humanitarian projects, locally and worldwide.