Photo: Sunrise Rotary Community Service Chair Elizabeth Engelberg, San Diego Oasis ' Chief Operating Officer Michael Craig and RB Sunrise Rotary President Marty Greenwald in April when Oasis received a $3,000 grant (courtesy of Marty Greenwald).
The Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Club has given a record amount in grants during its 2023-24 year, totaling $123.326 for local and international causes.
Marty Greenwald, the club's outgoing president, said "it would not be possible without community support for the Rancho BEERnardo Festival held last October in Webb Park." The event, Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary's only fundraiser, brought in $150,000 this year.
The event drew around 750 attendees, on the festival's largest crowds, and all festival sponsorships went towards the grants, with all overhead costs were covered through ticket sales and other revenues.
"Instead of nickel and diming our members, we seek community support as sponsors," Greenwald said. "We've had huge success when soliciting local community members and even those from places such as Canada and Washington state with whom members do business. We get them to also be corporate sponsors."
"The grant and donation process is very competitive, he said, with recipients falling into one of several categories. They are club service, community service, special projects, foundation, international services and youth services."
Our Grant and Budget Analysis Committee vets all of them," Greenwood said, noting all have 5013c status or are rated by Charity Navigator. "We make sure they are very viable, and we turn plenty down.
The grant recipients were:
Under Club Service - $3,168 for Free Wheelchair Mission
Under Community Service - $5,000 each to Poway OnStage, Feeding San Diego and the Kitchen Table; $4,000 to Riding Above Disabilities; $3,000 each to Solutions for Change, San Diego Oasis - Rancho Bernardo, Ed Brown Center for Active Adults; $1,675 to Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty of San Diego County, Inc.; $2,500 to Spirit of the Fourth; $1,500 to Rancho Bernardo Historical Society; $1,000 to Canine Companions for Independence; $978 to Valley Elementary's holiday party; $666 for Rotarians at Work Day tree planting at Poway High; $475 to give backpacks for Hoover High School students and $245 for Anvil of Hope at Christmas.
Under Special Projects, $2,500 each as memorial gifts to the Rotary Foundation to honor district governor Chuck Pretto and Jim Dunny.
Under Foundation Grants, $4,025 for the Rotary Foundation, $3,333 for Polio Plus and $1,500 for Maui Relief.
International Services, grants helped those in many countries: Oasis Haven South Africa received $10,500, while Project Mercy received $7,800. Two grants went to Thousand Smiles - $4,000 to support the August clinic and $1,234 was designated for volunteer lunches. Pediatric surgery training in Africa received $3,000, while $2,100 was designated for international Peace Scholar and $1,500 for Interntional Disaster Relief.
As for Youth Services, $15,000 was given to support Anvil of Hope - Bell Blazers baseball team; $5,500 was given to SoleEffects; $4,800 to support Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) program and $3,000 was designated for the Kendra Jeffcoat Scholarship. In addition, Scouts BSA received $2,702; Toys for Tots was given $1,872; grants of $1,500 each went to the AI Linton Foundation and RB Gridiron-Men of Character program; Rotary's 4-Way Test Speech Contest and Rotary District Music Competition each received $776 and LEAD (youth leadership program) received $600.
Greenwald said many of the grant recipients have received funding for several years, but there are also some new recipients. Riding Above Disability, a therapeutic horse program, is one. "A lot of times we find out about an organization because we have someone who is a good speaker at our meetings," he said. "The director spoke. We loved what we heard so much that we encouraged them to apply for a grant."
Greenwald added that he is looking forward to visiting one of the international grant recipients - the Oasis Haven school that the club financially assist in Johannesburg, South Africa. "My wife and I are going in three weeks to visit the school," he said.
Greenwald said the club's 57 members are already planning this year's Rancho BEERnardo Festival set for October 29 in Webb Park.
Editor's note: you will find under "News" information about this year's festival. It has information on how to purchase tickets.