In honor of Rotary International Peace Day, our club donated Smile Bags to families transitioning into housing from homelessness through Home Again LA. The bags contain pots and pans, baking sheets, utensils, kitchen towels, bathroom towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, toilet paper, paper towels, and toys for the kids. Our members adopted 10 families and did their best to make their new homes special.
 

Burbank Sunrise Rotarians collected pet food and towels at our regular Tuesday meeting and delivered it to the Burbank Animal Shelter. 
 

Our Club participated in the Rotary District 5280 districtwide school supply drive for children experiencing homelessness in the Inglewood Unified School District. We collected 3 boxes and 10 bags of supplies including binders, folders, pencils, pencil boxes, crayons, highlighters, paper, glue sticks, and spiral notebooks.

 

Burbank Sunrise Rotary was proud to award the Jack Forsch Memorial Scholarship to 24 students from Burbank, Burroughs, and Village Christian High Schools and 2 Liz Carletta Memorial Scholarships to 2 students from Village Christian High School. The scholarships totaled $14,500. Congratulations to all of our recipients!!

Big weekend for Burbank Sunrise at the Rotary District 5280 Conference! We were honored as the 2021-2022 Club of Excellence for small clubs and were awarded the banner for 100% Sustaining Paul Harris Fellows!! Congratulations President Maye on an amazing year!!
 

Burbank Sunrise Rotarians we’re fortunate to travel with others in District 5280 on a humanitarian trip to Puerto Rico. Our district completed a number of global grants and special projects in partnership with District 7000 in Puerto Rico. Over $230,000 was spent on 14 projects. We donated computers and training to a school to help with learning and also to teach their parents marketable skills. We provided baseball equipment to a specialized baseball community school where children use the sport to develope social skills, learn discipline, avoid gangs and drugs, and to provide structure. We provided new equipment and upgraded facilities at a homeless center where the clients are taught agricultural practices to provide for themselves, to feed other homeless or low income people, and to sell their excess inventory so that the center is self sustainable. We provided a photocopier to a center that provides a variety of services to a low income community. We rehabilitated parks, beaches, and playgrounds that had been devastated by hurricane Maria. We created an inclusive playground with adaptive recreational equipment where both physically able and challenged children could play together. We provided upgrades to center for domestic  violence victims including books and educational materials for the associated school. We expanded a recycling operation that funds treatment and therapy for recovering addicts. We provided children’s bedroom furniture to a local shelter. We provided funding that will help transform a vacant lot into a park that residents and families can enjoy. We provided for women to learn marketable skills and retrofit a storage container into a center to serve disabled children.
We also had fun with all our fellow Rotarians while enjoying this beautiful island.