What We Do - Local Projects

Our club is extremely proud of the work we do to support local organizations that make our communities better places to live and work.

At the most basic level, one thing we do is buy a book a week for the Grant Academy library, asking that each weekly guest speaker sign a bookplate on the first page telling the kids where the book came from.

Grant Academy

We're very proud to support San José's Grant Academy in a number of ways, including:

supplying Teacher Recognition awards, breakfasts and luncheons,

buying, wrapping and delivering Christmas presents to selected Grant families,

building and maintaining planter boxes on campus so kids can learn about plant lifecycles,

and working with staff and administrators to solve problems they can't solve on their own.

Our club has 'adopted' Grant Academy and is proud of the great work they do to make sure their kids have a fair chance at a top-notch education.

Here's what a local television station recently had to say about Grant Academy - "one small school is being recognized for overcoming a big achievement gap between students.

Grant Academy is succeeding where many urban schools face major challenges. Nearly 60% of the student body is classified as "English Learners."

Nonetheless, student test scores have met growth targets for the past 2 years."

Fishing in the City

Every year, our Club, led by former Club President, Mark McMasters, joins the Boys and Girls Club of San José for Fishing in the City, where our Club purchases and stocks Lake Cunningham with trout and catfish, and supplies free mini-tackle boxes and fishing instruction for Boys and Girls Club members, along with a free barbecue to round out the day.
This year Fishing in the City event is scheduled for February 9th and 10th at Cottonwood Lake in Hellyer Park. Volunteers need it to tech Kids to fish 5 days prior to the event and during the event. Please contact our club if you wish to volunteer.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards ( RYLA)

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30, but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30.

RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to

• Demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for youth
• Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders
• Encourage leadership of youth by youth
• Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities

Here are some comments from RYLA participants:

"RYLA was really great and I just want to say thank you for sponsoring me to go to it, it was a really good experience."-Hilary

"Camp RYLA was great! I had a lot of fun, met lots of really cool people that I never would have met otherwise, and honed my leadership skills. I highly recommend the continued sponsorship of future Interacters to Camp RYLA--I found it to be a beneficial and enjoyable experience overall." -Michelle

And More...

There are many other local charities and organizations we support with our time and funds, including the Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen, Parents Helping Parents, and the Martinson Child Development Center.

If you want to know more about what we do, come visit us for Lunch!