Program Summary: "The University Sunrise Rotary Club: A History," September 2, 2021

The University Sunrise Rotary Club, as clearly described by three of our long-time members this morning, is the world’s greatest Rotary Club.

Thanks to Joseph Thomas, Lee Raaen, and Jim Miller for providing their perspectives in this morning’s presentation. Our Club has expanded significantly in the past year, and we wanted to reflect on where we have come from.

Our Club was founded in 1984 as a spinoff from the University Rotary Club. We tried something new—a breakfast club—and it worked. We now benefit from nearly 50 members from diverse backgrounds—and even two nations—while remaining true to the original idea of Service Above Self.

As Joseph Thomas put it, from the start, we were about fellowship and service. Two big and important ideas. And we didn’t want to be a ‘checkbook’ Club. We wanted to get involved.

We have been engaged in an enormous number of projects over the years. Our members have done everything from engaging in international understanding efforts to selling wrapping paper to eliminate polio to holding community event to bring people together.

All these efforts have begun with a single idea generated by a few people in the Club that wanted to make something happen—and did it. Here is a short summary of some of the projects in which our Club had played a leadership role.

Community Service: Projects and Activities to Improve Lives in Our Community.

Feeding the Hungry
- Sand Point Block Party: An annual event designed to bring together diverse communities in the transitional housing neighborhood.
- Feeding the Hungry in our Community: Supporting food drives for food banks.
- Teen Feed: Feeding homeless University District youth.
- Turkey Baskets during the holidays, Ronald McDonald House dinners, food and water drives, Food Pantry at Mercy Housing, Breakfasts to Tiny Homes village, clothing drives, drives to support Urban Rest Stops, Street Teens, and others.
Caring for the Environment: Trail and street cleanups, street end park adoptions.
Promoting Literacy: Dictionaries to third graders led by Ron Espiritu and Paul Weibel. We made one of the first donations to TAF (Technology Access Foundation) and supported Books for the World.
Housing: Actively supported the Christmas in April program and build Tiny Houses for the homeless.
Special Holiday Events: Steve Barton provides Santa services to El Centra de la Raza and other programs.
Sharing and Caring Tree: A project collecting thousands of gifts for needy children during the holidays.
Tutoring for kids at Sand Point/Mercy Housing.

International Service: At first, we supported initiatives of other Clubs. Then branched out to take on our own projects.

Built housing in the Philippines.
Brazil: Under the leadership of Lee Raaen, the Club engaged in several significant projects, supported by Rotary International funding to support people in need in Brazil. Our Club helped secure the first Rotary Foundation funding for projects in the Brazilian Amazon and sponsored projects in Northeast Brazil:
- A matching grant supporting Green Garden elderly and disabled residents in Belem.
- Furniture and fixtures for cancer patients in Casa de Apoio in Port Velho.
- Equipment for disabled kids in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba.
- The closed Paus Branco Town Medical Center, in very rural Brazil, was re-opened as the result of grant support initiated to by our Club. Further, for the first time, computers were brought to the people of the town.
- We spearheaded the funding for a water project in Gurjao, Paraiba.

Polio: Over the years, we have raised thousands of dollars and had members participate in efforts to vaccinate people against polio.
Goodwill Games: In 1990, at the end of the Cold War, we housed Russian visitors attending the Goodwill games.
TINFA: The Club is a leading supporter, under the leadership of Mike Madden of TINFA, a program to bring computerized learning to rural Guatemala.
The Club has been a leader in international exchange programs over the years, Bahia Street, Shelter Boxes, and working with Mexican schools.

Club Service:

The Big Taste is our big annual event to raise funds for important efforts. In 2022, we expect more than 500 people will participate in an effort to raise money for Outdoors for All. This effort brings together dozens of new wineries, breweries, cideries, and others that enable participants to sample and purchase, as well as have a great time with live music and comradery.
The President’s Dinner and Auction raises money for many of our efforts—and is a great night for building friendships.
Our weekly meetings have some of the best speakers anywhere that allow us to learn and hear other people’s points of view. In addition to our online weekly Thursday morning meetings, we meet in person twice a month for a service project and a social outing.

Vocational Service: Promote and foster high ethical standards in business and professions and promote the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations. We have been a leader in Exchange Programs and ambassadorial scholarships, as well as learning through our weekly programs.

Youth Service: Recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Rotary youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange. We created the first Rotaract program in our District at the University of Washington and actively support high school student participation in the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program.

Other:

We excel at developing personal friendships through our fellowship events
We are one of the leaders in per capital support for the Rotary Foundation.
We have been known to excel at certain tavern and bar ‘inspections.’
We were an early advocate of women in Rotary in our early days, supporting the International District Club in Seattle that pioneered the change.

Finally, we wanted to honor and recognize some of our passed members over the nearly four decades of our existence: