The February Rotarian of the Month honor was bestowed on Richard Lombari. He has only been a member of our club for nine months but has already demonstrated the strength of his commitment as he serves selflessly, inspiring hope. After only being in the club for two months, Richard bravely accepted one of the most challenging roles, Membership Chair. He is also backup photographer for club meetings and events. Richard is a dedicated leader, an innovative thinker, and a true example of a Rotarian. Please offer your congratulations to Richard.

Andrea Gressinger, last month’s Rotarian of the Month and Chair of the Food and Wine Festival Committee, presented this year’s Club’s “Fund A Need” recipient, The Santa Monica College Foundation on behalf of the SMC Bodega a $10,000.00 check. These funds were raised through donations at our annual “Food and Wine Festival”.

Mike Kallhoff received his official membership badge this week. Mike will not look the same without that red badge.

It was a lovely honor to have Past President Connie Maguire join us in an in-person meeting this week. Connie is Vice President of Mission Advancement at YMCA of Greater Long Beach and is rarely available to attend meetings at her home club in Santa Monica. Connie is deeply loved and appreciated.

California State Senator Ben Allen presented the Environmental Legislative Roundup to our club and guest this week. He walked through each of the bills approved and gave us the intentions of the laws.SB 1020 (Laird) – Clean Energy, Jobs, and Affordability Act of 2022
AB 1279 (Muratsuchi) – The California Climate Crisis Act
SB 905 (Caballero) – Carbon Capture
SB 1314 (Limon) – Enhanced Oil Recovery
SB 1137 (Gonzalez and Limon) – Oil and Gas Local Restrictions
AB 1757 (C. Garcia and R. Rivas) – Nature Based Climate SolutionsSenator Allen also talked about how the state is enhancing our Electric Vehicle Goals.
$10 billion investment in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) deployment ($8.9 billion maintained in 2023 budget proposal)

AB 2622 (Mullin) – Extends sales tax exemption for transit buses.
SB 1251 (Gonzalez) – ZEV Market Development Office and ZEV Equity Advocate
SB 1010 (Skinner) – State Fleet ZEV deployment
AB 2836 (E. Garcia) – Extending the Carl Moyer Program for clean air funding.
AB 2061 (Ting) – ZEV Infrastructure

He also highlighted SB 54 of 2022 – Packaging Pollution Producer Responsibility Act.Require producers to source-reduce the amount of single-use packaging and food service ware put on the market.Require all material remaining on the market to be recyclable or compostable; set metrics to ensure recycling requirement is met.

Transfer end-of-life management costs for single-use packaging and food service ware from ratepayers to producers.

We were informed of the Bipartisan SUCCESS!!
Assembly votes 67-2
Senate votes 29-0

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FRIDAY MARCH 17th.
Speaker: Goran Milic, Owner and Chef at Divino Brentwood
A successful businessman who is committed to help others!

Please join us as we hear from Govan Milic, Chef and Owner or Divino of Brentwood. A family traditional restaurant for over 28 years. Every guest is greeted with an inviting smile, making you feel like you are dining in your best friend’s home. Whether you come for an intimate dinner, a celebration with friends or an important business event, you can depend on the warmth and attentiveness of Divine’s devoted staff to renew the pleasure of your dining experience time and time again. Goran believes in “paying it forward” by reaching out to a multitude of disenfranchised young adults by mentoring and training them to be chefs and teaching them to be experts in customer service. Opening up doors to a whole new world of opportunities and possibilities for them.

Host Rotarian Introducer & Interviewer: Rotarian Carole Stein

ROTARY PROGRAM 3/24 ZOOM
“WALKING THE WALK – TAKING RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH
THE ARTS AND IN EVERYDAY LIFE”

Presenter: David Pomeranz’s recordings and songs have earned him a total of 22 platinum and 18 gold albums – selling over 40 million records internationally.
David has written hits recorded and performed by such artists as: Barry Manilow (“Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again” and “The Old Songs” – both number one hits), Freddie Mercury, Missy Elliott, Richie Sambora (of Bon Jovi), Bette Midler, Ann Wilson, The Muppets, Clay Aiken, John Denver, The Carpenters and dozens more. https://www.davidpomeranz.com/
Rotarian Introducer: Monika White
Zoom Host: Len Lanzi

RCSM MEETING ZOOM LINK

You can view our meeting on zoom using the RCSM link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/94645950168?pwd=YWNiaEJ6R2ZWdjN5a09kUmt4NEVjZz09

Visit our Web Site www.rotaryclubofsantamonica.org for more information on our calendar of events and to join us on Zoom.

The Rotary Club of Santa Monica is proud to partner with the Santa Monica College Guardian Scholars Program (for foster or former foster youth) to offer two different volunteer opportunities!

Career Guest Speaker Series!
Date/Time: Tuesdays or Thursdays in April and May from noon to 1 pm (exact date can be arranged to suit the schedule of the speaker)

Location: Virtual (Zoom link will be provided)

What: Speak to foster and former foster youth who are students at SMC about your career!
Note: Other SMC students in need may also attend the session.

Toiletry Kit Assembly!
Date/Time: Saturday, March 18 10:30am-noon
Location: Timur’s house (RSVP to Sharon for the address)
What: We will be packing about 100 toiletry kits for the students in the Guardian Scholars Program. Donations: We will not be collecting individual items, but cash donations are welcome so that we can purchase the items in bulk.

For more information or to RSVP to either activity, contact Sharon Gavin at [email protected]

The Rotary Club of Santa Monica is pleased to partner with Upward Bound House to establish a“Rotary Boutique”! What: We are collecting new or gently used clothes in order to establish a free “Rotary Boutique” for the families at Upward Bound House in Santa Monica. We are seeking smart casual/casual clothes for children (toddlers through teens and young adults) as well as men and women.When: Please drop off donations at our Rotary meeting on Friday, April 14.

Also: We are seeking volunteers on April 19 from 12:00pm-2:30pm to sort the donations as well as help families choose their clothing preferences.

For questions or to volunteer on April 19, please contact [email protected]

SM ROTARY UP AND COMING SOCIAL EVENTS CALENDAR

REMINDERS:

March 23rd – 31st – District Humanitarian Trip to Belize

March 30 – Book Club Live @ Andrea’s house – we are reading “An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President’s Murder” by Susan Wels

April 2nd – District Brunch
April 4th – First Tuesday at 1212 Santa Monica

May 4th – 7th – District Conference

Curious about Upcoming Rotary Programs? Go to
https://www.rotaryclubofsantamonica.org/events-calendar/