On Friday, October 4, 2019 morning, Robin, Amy, and Nancy attended the Bakersfield City School District Partners in Education Breakfast as guests of Mt. Vernon Elementary School principal, Mrs. Xochitl Prieto. The District, which is the largest elementary school district in California, has expanded its after school programs; students at all of the schools have the opportunity to attend the STEAM Academy classes that are offered during expanded school hours. Later at the school, Mrs. Prieto gave an overview of the Mt. Vernon Elementary School new expanded after school program and provided information about the classes they will have for the students. She also conducted a tour of the school and invited guests to step into some classrooms for a few minutes to see teachers and students in action---teaching, coaching, and learning.
At our meeting on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, Cecil talked about the concert fundraiser at the end of April 2020. We are looking to double the club's profit. We will be the first club putting on a concert. He also made it clear that if we do this, we need to focus first on selling sponsorships before individual sales. Then, out own Twilight club member, Anselmo Moreno, gave an informative and insightful presentation about Identity Theft and Data Breach. According to Anselmo, there are four kinds of data breaches, Credit data breach, IRS ID theft, DMV identity theft and Medical ID theft. Anselmo emphasized keeping your personal information secure, not providing it to others unless absolutely necessary for the service you are requesting, and review your credit reports often.
This weekend, Centennial Interact club attended the EmpowerHER breast cancer awareness month event and supported our local warriors. They helped with registration, handed out goody bags and treats and helped with set up and clean up. Great job Interactors who attended.
B-Rad gave us an inspirational moment; Denise helped out with our flag salute; and Manuel was volunteered to lead us in the four-way song.
Our speaker was Amy Travis, the Executive Director of CASA. CASA works with abused and neglected foster children. A CASA volunteer is the eyes and ears of the Juvenile Court system. There are thousands of foster children waiting for CASA volunteers. Amy told us that there are three things that everyone can do for CASA that will help their organization. First and most importantly, you can become a CASA volunteer. It is an 18-months commitment. You can give money to their fund. Lastly, you can can tell everyone about CASA and how they can help.
Statistically, most foster children are doomed to a life of addiction and homelessness. CASA is trying to change that as much as possible. The solution is citizen volunteers. The idea is to have one volunteer per child. Right now, they have a little over 130 volunteers, but need a lot more. Without an advocate, these children are going to most likely languish in the foster care system.
Finally, during our question and answer session of our program, we learned that our own, Vince Zaragoza, was one of the original people who started CASA. It was so interesting to hear Vince tell us about how little their budget was when they first started and what they had to do in order to get CASA going. Way to go Vince. It's impossible to imagine how many children's lives have changed because Vince and a few other people decide to get CASA going. You were a Rotarian years ago and you didn't even know it.
Centennial Interact Club held its first meeting of the year and they were kind enough to share some photos with us. What a turn out it looked like. At their meeting, they covered what Interact is, they introduced their board members and informed everyone about exciting events coming up like the MADD run this past Saturday and JJ's Legacy Got the Dot program. They had over 100 people in attendance.
Thanks to Mr. Amy Smith(aka, Zane Smith), the Kern County Rotaract Club met at the Boys and Girls Club of Kern County. They learned all about the Boys and Girls Club and even received a tour from Zane. Rotaract Club President, Noah Salinas, and a few lucky members also received beautiful art pieces from the children themselves.
This past Wednesday afternoon's meeting took us to the newly renovated Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House where Scarlet Sabin, the House Director, gave us a tour and discussed its development, its growth, and its mission to provide for families during times of healing. Thank you, Scarlet!
What a fun time we had Thursday night at The Blvd. Thank you to all of the Twilight club members, families and Centennial Interact Club members who came. We enjoyed good food, games, bowling, and most of all -- fun socializing. A great time!