The Assistance League doing their Part for Children
Our April 29th meeting was called to order by Prez Dave who also presented the weekly joke. We collected a few fines by asking questions from the new Rotarian magazine.
Guests included Gail Stoneburg with the Assistance League and a fellow Rotarian from Los Osos.
Announcements:
PRLS is being held at Upper Crust in SLO on June 21st; contact Heidi K if you are interested.
ROUNDABOUT CLEANUP TOMORROW....Wednesday April 30th… contact Mike P for details or heck, just show up – you’ll be welcomed with open arms!!!.
CAR SHOW on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. We need more people to work the booths, set up and clean up, etc – this is a fundraiser for Rotary and an event that we’ve helped at for years – if available, please volunteer to help.
The GOLF TOURNAMENT is scheduled for May 10th at Sea Pines. We need more participants and would appreciate it if some Rotarians would pay for a high school golf team member to play. Right now we have nine teams... Fivesomes... $55.00/ person
Gary Owens said he needs help to cut meat Friday night for the Car Show BBQ
PROJECT SURF CAMP coming up on Saturday, August 2nd – an amazing experience that we hope you’ll take part in!!!.
Gail Stoneburg, a member of the Assistance League, was the speaker for today. The Assistance League is a non-profit organization with no paid staff. She says that 43% of the children in MORRO BAY schools are below the poverty line which means that a family of four makes $24,000/year or less. The Assistance League was able to provide 1560 children with enough clothes for the school year as well as provide them with a hygiene kit. Since 1995, 22,000 children have been clothed by the Assistance League. They have concentrated their efforts on Kindergarten through 6th grade but recently have included middle schoolers. Next school year they have plans to include high schoolers.
No one else in the county is doing this. Last year a teacher at MBHS began collecting clothes for high schoolers and also provided space for the clothes to be stored until they could be distributed. She knew there were at least 11 high schoolers in desperate need. Next year, the Assistance League plans to take the entire program retail shopping. At this time they have a bungalow to service the kids with financial needs but next year, unfortunately they won’t have that facility so they are going to retail stores to buy clearance items - Kohls and Old Navy have generously offered to help out. Each high schooler will be given $150.00 to spend on sale items in these two stores. A member of the Assistance League goes with them. For some, it could be their first ever shopping experience. Why new clothes? It gives the child self-confidence which helps them concentrate on their grades.
There is a special program for children with more severe needs and/or are homeless. These recipients are selected by school counselors.
Even though our economy is improving, there are still many families in our area with needs. The Assistance League has less than 100 members in SLO who do their own fund raising and give as many as 15,000 volunteer hours back to the community. They write 20 to 30 grants each year and end up receiving about half of them.
They are holding a fundraising event on October 18th; it is a Fashion Show and Luncheon. In order to fund their program, they need $70.00 for each K through 6th grade child, and $100.00 for middle schoolers and high schoolers. They will clothe 1500 children each year. The highest numbers of children below the poverty line are in Oceano and Morro Bay with 226 children living below poverty line at our very own Del Mar Elementary School.
Mike Pond reported on a RYLA trip. .. 250 students in total attended. He had lunch with the group from MBHS..........Good time was had by all.
Meet at MBHS next week. Come and bring a guest. FFA will be serving lunch.