The Journey and the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club

Our journey begins in less than 2 weeks.  Time to backtrack and think about why we decided to start writing this blog in the first place. 

We finalized our plans to walk the last part of Le Chemin de Saint Jacques last October.  As we were going on one of our almost daily morning walks, we talked about our 5 treks along the Camino over the last 10 years and how this coming trek would take us over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, Spain, the starting point of the Spanish Camino, and tie together a JOURNEY OF 1000 MILES for us.  Krishna suggested - "what better way to complete this journey than to dedicate these last miles of walking to support our La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club".  That's how the idea for a club fundraiser began.

Donors can pledge support based on the miles we will walk, the number of days walked, or just specify a donation amount.  Donations can be made online at the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club webpage: http://lajollagtrotary.org/ .  Donations can also be made by check payable to:  La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Foundation.  Put "A Journey of 1000 Miles" on the memo line, and mail to:

La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club
P.O. Box 13023
La Jolla, CA 92039

All funds donated will be used for Club service projects.  Members are currently involved in many local and international projects.  How it works - members who have project ideas or who have hands-on involvement with a particular non-profit organization share their interest with the club at committee level meetings.  The committee will decide if it is able to support the project hands-on and/or financially (if needed and if money is available in the budget).  The member who introduced the project takes the lead in planning and seeing the project through completion.

In recent years the club has supported several of the projects that we have been passionate about:

In India - provided new toilet blocks for a school for blind children in Behrampur, India
In Pakistan - Built a water filtration plant that provides clean drinking water to an entire community in Jhang, Pakistan
In Peru - installed a solar panel on a school in Q'eros, an isolated region in the Andes where there is no electricity.  The solar panel provides enough electricity for 20 light bulbs and provides the only electricity for the hamlet of Munay T'ika.
In Peru- provided the construction materials for the roofs of two guinea pig sheds in the community of Lahualahua, in order to help families of the community expand productive capability and become economically stable.

Some of the local organizations and/or projects our club is involved in include:

Braille Institute
Ronald Mc Donald House
Salvation Army TLC
San Diego Rescue Mission
Voices for Children
Dress for Success
Social Advocates for Youth
CCSA Holiday Baskets
Police Project
Camp Pendleton
Rotarians at Work Day
Therapeutic Horsemanship/Upward Bound
VA Hospital Visitation
YMCA OZ
Educator of the Year
Four Way Test Speech Contest (high school students)
Model UN
LEAD (Leadership, Ethics and Determination) Conference for 8th graders
Literacy Program
Preuss School Projects
(Interact, Symphony and Theatre trips, Service above Self Scholarship)
USD Upward Bound
USD Expanding your Horizons
UCSD Rotaract
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award)
Salk Mobile Science Unit
Sister Schools
High School Institute

Some of our club's international projects during the current Rotary year include:

Afghanistan: Sister Cities (Jalalabad-San Diego)
Afghanistan: Rotary Projects
Guatemala: Computer Labs
Indonesia: Bali Educare Program
Indonesia: HIV/AIDS Project
Kenya: WAPIs
Kenya: Children's Peace Initiative
Mexico: Surgery MOST
Mexico: San Diego Zoo Trip
Mexico: Children's Hospital (District Grant)
Mexico: Tijuana Safe House
Mexico: Ensenada School Project
Mexico: Thousand Smiles
Nepal: Donkey or Yak (for single mother)
Peru: Guinea Pig Farms
Philippines: Surgery
South Africa: Reading Program
Tibet: Scholarship
Turkey: Breast Cancer Awareness Training
Uganda: Hospital Water Project
USA: Somali Sewing Project
USA: Non-Rotary IPJ (Inst for Peace & Justice) Scholars
USA: Project Refuge
USA: Rotary Scholars at UCSD
USA: Rotary Scholars at USD
USA: UCSD International Cafe
USA: USC Rotaract
Worldwide: Shelterbox

Each of the above are lead by members who are passionate about their individual projects and supported by club members who are able to participate in the activities.  So, you can see how active this club is!  Sorry the above is just a long list.  There are too many items to write about each one, but you can check the club webpage or contact me to find out more.