Rotary Club of Rancho Cotati

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Community Service

The Community Service Committee, under the Chairmanship of Janet Rosselle and made up of Robert Leys, Peggy Hopkins, and Angie Watkins, has been quite active in assessing and addressing community needs. So far, with respect to Community Service projects, we have shopped for and distributed food for NOAH (food distribution center) in Rohnert Park; we have a check to present to the Osher Lifelong Leaning School at SSU for a scholarship for one senior; and we are going to purchase dictionaries for Club Members to distribute to approximately 85 third graders at Thomas Page and Penngrove Schools under the Harvey Frietley Dictionary Program. Janet is now working with COTS to see what the Club can do monthly to assure that COTS' serviced population has themed monthly donations, e.g. Kitchen, shoes, socks, etc. We also have approval to find a freezer for up to $200 for NOAH. Janet and Louise even took time to loan person items and decorate for the club's Charter Night turning the former Agilent Conference Center into a room in the Sonoma County Wine Country. Finally, Vita Jones has volunteered to assist the Committee by continuing her Quilt Project, Sleep Warm, for the homeless which she previously ran at the Rotary Club from which she transferred.

Project “Sleep Warm”

Rancho Cotati Rotary Club has adopted Project “Sleep Warm” which provides warm quilts to homeless persons.

This project is now entering its seventh year. To date, some 1200 quilts have been assembled and donated. Originally sponsored by the Rotary Club of Rohnert Park-Cotati, the project is now being fostered by the new Rancho Cotati Rotary Club (Project Coordinator has changed clubs).

A quilt consists of three layers: top, bottom, and the batting in the middle which supplies the warmth. The only expense is for the batting The quilts are assembled at community workshops. All supplies are donated, and the quilt tops and bottoms are sewn by volunteers. The completed quilts are distributed by the various county homeless services organizations: The Living Room, COTS, Teen Shelter, Catholic Charities Shelter.

The adult-size quilt is an 8’ square, folded, sewn along the bottom and up one side to make a sleeping bag, rolled and tied with donated men’s ties. Each quilt contains a hand-knit or crocheted cap, made by friends of the project. The 4’x8’ format allows room for a mother to cuddle with a baby or small child, or for a person sleeping out-of-doors to stash boots, jackets, etc within the quilt so they don’t get stolen.

The child’s quilt is a flat 4’x8’ so it can be used in the back seat of a car, or put over the child on a borrowed sofa (sometimes a sofa is offered for a child in a household which cannot accommodate the parent also). The child’s quilt comes with a small stuffed toy in the cap.

We were fortunate to receive a large donation from Wal-Mart, which we used over the last several years for batting. This money is now exhausted. We are now pursuing a District 5130 Simplified Grant to cover the expense of batting for the coming year.