The Rotary Club of West Seattle usually meets for lunch on Tuesdays, but today members got up early for the annual Community Breakfast. Guest speakers included Penny LeGate, award-winning veteran broadcaster, and Ezra Teshome, who is assistant governor for Rotary District 5030 (above, from left, Teshome, LeGate, and WS Rotary president Steve Fuller). LeGate talked about the Rotary effort to help eradicate polio, which persists in countries including Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan, where it’s difficult to deliver vaccine, and to break through geographic/cultural challenges. The Rotary’s polio-fighting campaign goes back more than a quarter of a century, and gets financial assistance from the Seattle-headquartered Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Teshome talked about his trips taking dozens of Rotarians to Ethiopia each fall to work on the polio-fighting project.

Also highlighted – Arbor Heights Elementary students modeling clothes from last December’s West Seattle Rotary Holiday Shopping Spree, and Molly Ward from the South Seattle Community College-based Career Link, which receives assistance from the Rotary’s education program (which also provides scholarships to local students including West Seattle High School, Chief Sealth International High School, and Seattle Lutheran High School). One more youth note – the Ellis Brothers Jazz Trio entertained:

You can find out more about the Rotary Club of West Seattle, its events and programs at their website – westseattlerotary.org.