Rotary Club of Tehachapi honored with district awards

Provided.

At the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Tehachapi on July 11, the Club welcomed Kay Pitts, chief operating officer of Rotary District 5240 and member of the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club. She presented two awards to President Jennifer Palakiko and Past President Paul Kaminski, which were earned by the Tehachapi Rotary Club during the 2023-24 year.

Pitts presented a Bronze Medal to the Club for meeting five of the required criteria to achieve special recognition. The Club met the District's annual goals in the areas of Club Service, Community Service, Youth Service and Rotary Foundation. In addition, the Club met goals in capturing the 2023-24 District 5240 theme, "Let's Have Fun!" Past District Governor Marta Brown believed that the best way to implement the international theme of "Create Hope in the World" was to find joy in belonging to Rotary.

She said, "I acknowledge there is a lot of hard work involved in all that we do, but we can enjoy who we are doing it with and the results of our labor." The Rotary Club of Tehachapi met this 5th criteria for implementing the theme, earning a Bronze Medal for 2023-24.

In addition, the Tehachapi Rotary received recognition as a Peacebuilder Club. Pitts stated, "Although there are 69 Rotary Clubs in District 5240, only 21 clubs are Peacebuilder Clubs, so this is an important recognition of the work of the Tehachapi Rotary."

District 5240 established the Peacebuilder Club program to support Rotary's mission of advancing world understanding, goodwill and peace through activities at the local level. Peacebuilder Clubs are committed to diminishing the root causes of conflict and help to create an environment of peace by supporting projects relevant to the community. The Tehachapi Rotary Club has engaged in a number of activities as a Peacebuilder Club, including installing a Peace Pole in Centennial Plaza downtown, holding a Peace Walk, a Youth Art Contest, Say YES! empowerment seminar for teens and working with the Interact Clubs at the local high schools. Rotary has also worked to reduce the stressors on families through initiating fundraising and community support for the Warrior Pantry, hosting the 12 Days of Christmas food drive, supporting the Salvation Army annual coat drive and increasing the scholarships awarded to high school seniors.

The Tehachapi Rotary Club meets at noon every Thursday at Kelcy's. Rotary is committed to "Service Above Self," and devotes time and resources to projects in the local community, scholarships for college-bound high school seniors, and supporting global efforts for polio eradication. For more information about the Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/.