Our annual Christmas Lives event took place on December 18, 2018.  This year, we have over 50 families at the event.  Gifts were given to children (some as many as 4 kids) in a family.  As usual, we had Santa present and kids and their families got the opportunity to take pictures with Santa.  We had a total guest of over 300.  In N Out Burger truck was on site to give out Burgers to everyone.  DJ Bobby provided great music and Stephenie was on hand to provide great Christmas Carol.  Everyone had a great time.  Here are some pictures from the event.

                                                       Family  Picture  with Santa

                                                In N Out Burger Truck was also on site

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 21, 2018 was  'Rotary Day of Service'. The GVN Rotary club embarked on a project to renovate and paint two classrooms at the 

Salvation Army  Valley Corps building located at 14917 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, CA.

Below are pictures of rotarians hard at work.

   

 

 

 

This video depicts the beginning of the eradication of polio in the world.  Ruth, herself a polio victim and wife of late William Bill Frank, PDG (District 5260) 1973-74 Rotary year.  This video was done by the Greater San Fernando Rotary Club, which today is Greater Van Nuys Rotary, after the merger of two other clubs. I am sharing this video with everyone so that members of our club can be knowledgeable about why we as rotarians,  are so bend on the eradication of polio from the face of the earth. 

 

This year's GVN Rotary Luncheon was held on Thursday December 14, 2017 at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant in Van Nuys and we had the beautiful Chalet de Clay room as our seating location.

 

Approximately 23 members, spouses and guest were in attendance and each received a raffle ticket for a chance at an assortment of gifts.

 

 

 

Ashton Kutcher, philanthropist and actor, was one of the numerous speakers at the Rotary International Convention this year in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, whose main goal was to speak to convention goers and the world at large about the menace of human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children. During a Panel discussion, he expressed his sadness about this global menace.

 

Kutcher is the Co-Founder of THORN: Digital Defenders of Children.  During his speech at the Rotary Convention, Kutcher in his own words confessed: “As a young man coming up in the public school system in the United States, I thought slavery was done, a thing of the past.  When I realized this was happening even right here in Atlanta, a hotbed for trafficking as a travel hub, I was floored and set out to learn as much as I could about it.”

 

He further stressed that vulnerability and poverty often acts as catalysts for human trafficking and sexual slavery of children.  In the United States, most children who ends up in the ‘system’ have no one in their lives to love them.  They are the ones who are most vulnerable to this menace.

 

Thorn is dedicated mainly to preventing sexual exploitation and eliminating child pornography and the conditions that cause it specifically on the internet. Thorn has a high tech lab which it uses to combat this global menace. Thorn targets the internet because it plays a significant role in promoting child pornography as well as the sexual slavery of children on a global scale.

 

Other members of the panel included Gary Hauhen, Bob Corker and Rebecca Bender, who herself is a survivor of human trafficking.

 

Learn more about how Rotary, in partnership with Thorn and millions of Rotarians worldwide, are working to fight this global menace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year our annual Harvest/Halloween festival was held with the usual funfair.  The festival started at 6:00Pm.  By 6:10PM the venue at the Victory Outreach Church Center, was packed full with well over 400 kids and their parents.  Nearly all the kids and their families were all beautifully dressed in their costumes.  Once again there were various tents/booth setup, each with different games for the kids whereby winners were given prices.  We also had a puppet show on stage and the kids enjoyed all the stories from the show.  The main stage had music from a live band entertaining.  It was fun for everyone.

 

Bill, Barbara, Judy, Maryjane, Richard and Dave at the Halloween Festival

 

This year, our club gave out free Tooth Brush to everyone, and Rotarian Dr. Barbara Pampalone was on hand to advise kids of the importance of personal hygiene. Brushing at least twice a day would keep teeth healthy.

 

Once again we had a costume contest, in different categories. From toddlers to adults.   Judges were members of our club and it was very hard to pick winners since everyone looked to beautiful in their costumes.  Eventually, winners were picked and prizes of Gift Cards were given out to winners.