Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary marks successful year, welcomes new president

From giving thousands of water bottles to homeless veterans, to donating hundreds of dictionaries to local children, the Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club gives back to the community — at home and abroad.

The club celebrated this year’s accomplishments June 7 during the “Celebration of Service” at the Morgan Run Club & Resort in Rancho Santa Fe. On June 13, club members commemorated outgoing President Diane Huckabee and welcomed incoming President Dr. Seymour Myers, at the home of Rotarians Charles and Alicia Foster.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Huckabee, a Carmel Valley resident who has been a Rotarian since 2002, initially with La Jolla Rotary Club. She joined the Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club in 2010.

“We have a tremendous club,” she said. “It’s small compared to other clubs, but the people who are members here are brilliant, smart and engaged. It’s amazing to me what they can accomplish.”

This year the Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club volunteered with 25 local organizations and provided financial assistance to 17, including the Community Resource Center, Just in Time for Foster Youth, Reality Changers and the Pegasus Rising Project, among many others.

Accomplishments included serving 6,400 bottles of water to homeless veterans during last July’s three-day Stand Down and donating 820 dictionaries to third-grade students in 11 public schools throughout Del Mar, Solana Beach and Carmel Valley.

The club also donated funds and more than three dozen stuffed animals to Voices for Children, helped prepare holiday baskets for families at the Community Resource Center and presented $1,000 scholarships to two local students, among other local service projects.

Among its international projects, the club financially assisted Hope Without Boundaries, which helps children who live at the old Tijuana dump attend public school. In addition, it funded medical supplies and weekly physician and nurse visits to a medical clinic in El Salvador, improvements and training at a village training center in India, and five emergency shelter boxes for earthquake-stricken Nepal.

“We’re small but mighty,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee recently passed the baton to new president Myers. A charter member of the club, Myers has been with the club since it was founded in 1992.

“The camaraderie makes this club special,” said Myers, a doctor in Solana Beach. “The club also does a lot in the community.”

To raise funds for its local and international projects, the club holds a Bocce Tournament every year. About 300 people attended last year’s tournament, which netted approximately $51,000.

The 19th annual Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Bocce Tournament takes place Oct. 4 at the Del Mar Horsepark. This year’s major beneficiaries are Just in Time for Foster Youth, Operation Game On and Reality Changers.

Chartered in 1992, the Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club grew out of the Rotary Club of Del Mar, which was founded in 1954. With more than 30 members, the Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club is a tight-knit group that provides service to the community, both locally and internationally.

“We’re always anxious and willing to find people who want to give back to the community and be a part of it,” Huckabee said. “To me, Rotary covers all bases. We give locally and internationally.”

The Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary Club is part of Rotary International, a service organization of approximately 1.2 million people in 34,000 clubs around the world.

The club meets at 7 a.m. Fridays at Morgan Run Club & Resort, at 5690 Cancha De Golf in Rancho Santa Fe. Visit www.dmsbrotary.com.