Rotary Club of Walnut Creek Distributes Grants to Several Local Nonprofits

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - March 7, 2018 - PRLog -- The Rotary Club of Walnut Creek held its 20th annual Crab Feed fundraiser on January 27, 2018, at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, attended by 330 people, most of whom support the work of Rotary and others who simply love crab. Proceeds from this year's Crab Feed will be distributed next year to local nonprofits during the 2018-2019 Rotary year, July to July. Funds from last year's event, which raised $44,000, are supporting community service organizations during the 2017-2018 Rotary year.

"The Rotary's motto is 'Service Above Self' and its goal is to make positive, lasting change at home and abroad to better the world," says Milt Smith, chairman, Walnut Creek Rotary Club Community Foundation. "We regularly receive grant requests from local nonprofits and we're so happy to be able to honor many of those requests from organizations whose missions align with one or more of Rotary's six areas of focus," which are peace and conflict prevention and resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and economic and community development.

On October 31, 2017, the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek granted $2,500 to Yours Humanly, an international organization that works locally, nationally, and internationally to empower underprivileged children in underserved communities by providing access to quality education and computer technology. Yours Humanly gets children off the streets and enrolled in local schools; funds tuition through 12th grade graduation; and brings technology and educational resources into underserved classrooms.

On January 16, 2018, the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek granted $2,500 to CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, inspired by the work the organization does on behalf of foster children and the positive impact they have on children aging out of the system. With a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer dedicated to their case, America's most vulnerable children have someone speaking up for their best interests.

On January 18, 2018, the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek granted $2,000 to Ability Now Bay Area, formerly known as the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area. Ability Now offers adults with developmental and physical disabilities comprehensive services, including education, communication, computer literacy, vocational training, wellness, and community integration.

To date, additional Rotary Club of Walnut Creek grants have been distributed to Camp Venture, Camp Royal, Diablo Boy Scout Hispanic Initiative, WASH Concord Rotary, Wheelchair Foundation, Assistance League of Diablo Valley, Listening to Dragonflies, and Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation (Costa Rica); and scholarships have been granted to one Northgate HS student and one Las Lomas HS student.

Rotary Club of Walnut Creek, www.rotarywc.org

Pledging itself to Service Above Self, Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who come together to make positive, lasting change in communities at home and abroad. Rotary International has more than 30,000 clubs world wide and is now the largest private non-profit organization in the world. On the local level, among a wide number and variety of activities, the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek hosts student exchange programs, provides student scholarships, works with Meals on Wheels, and holds an annual Crab Feed fundraiser with proceeds donated directly back to community and international service efforts. Internationally, Rotary Club of Walnut Creek works to eradicate polio; deliver safe, healthy water to underserved communities; and provide wheelchairs to needy disabled children, teens, and adults in Central America.