City Proclaims a Week in September as "Pleasanton North Rotary Week"

Submitted by: Pleasanton North Rotary

The Pleasanton City Council has proclaimed the week of Sept. 24-30 as Week in recognition of the chapter’s 25 years of service to the community.

The council approved the proclamation Aug. 21 at its regular monthly meeting. Vice-mayor Cheryl Cook Kallio, and council members, Cindy McGovern, and Matt Sullivan, and Jerry Throne supported the proposal.

PNR president Tina Case accepted the proclamation on behalf of the 57-member chapter. It consists of Tri-Valley business people, professionals, and educators. The club volunteers for hands-on projects and provides financial support to charitable projects throughout the Tri-Valley and selected sites around the world.

Founded on March 9, 1987 through the efforts of Pleasanton businessman Chris Miller, PNR was the largest Rotary club ever chartered west of the Mississippi River. Chuck Pickens, owner of JobMart Agency, a private employment agency, was its first president.

PNR has raised nearly $1 million for such efforts, the proclamation noted. In 2011 alone, it was involved in 23 projects including local programs helping veterans, needy families, students, and seniors. It backed ongoing efforts by Rotary International to eradicate polio and to deliver safe drinking water to remote communities in Southeast Asia.

Through its own initiatives, PNR has distributed more than 5600 wheelchairs in 11 Latin American countries since 2002. It has installed modern medical equipment at a hospital in Afghanistan, and it has maintained on-going support to the El Oasis Orphanage in Mexico. The proclamation noted such efforts show that PNR has lived up to its motto as “the little club that can.”

Case told the council the Pleasanton North Rotary Week designation will boost promotional efforts for A Starry Night, Sept. 29, at Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery. The annual charity dinner, dance, and auction raises funds covering the cost of more than 90% of the club’s philanthropic activities.

The event this year focuses on local youth sports and educational programs, Case said. Donations will help build an all-weather field for the Pleasanton RAGE girl’s soccer club and other soccer teams. It will support First Tee, a golf instruction program, and scholarships for the School of Imagination and Happy Talkers, a school for children with autism and learning disabilities.

Details on individual tickets and donations can be found at the event’s website www.astarrynight.org