The little service club that thought it could, apparently can.
Hermosa Beach Rotary was named the top “Club of Excellence” for its size in a Rotary district stretching from San Pedro and Palos Verdes to Malibu and Vernon.
“We’re small, but we’re mighty,” Angela Peterson, Hermosa Rotary’s executive secretary, told her fellow club members on Tuesday, speaking with a blue and gold banner from the district as a backdrop.
Hermosa Rotary beat out 24 other clubs of 25 or fewer members for the award, which was announced at the district’s annual convention in San Diego.
Hermosa Rotary was honored for numerous projects in areas from hunger to literacy and illnesses.
“It’s not that we did any one thing that was new and big and different, it’s that we do it consistently, year after year,” Peterson said.
Hermosa Rotary made a humanitarian aid trip to Puerto Rico, enhanced its sister-club aid to Thailand, took part in forums to highlight the role of ethics in business, helped raise funds for Hermosa school library and arts programs, and promoted local businesses with awards programs.
The club volunteered with the Project Touch Sand and Strand Run, Meals on Wheels, Salvation Army bell ringing, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Friends of the Park movies in the park, South Central Family Health Center’s Adopt-a-Family program, and an Adopt-a-Grandparent program.
The club helped publicize the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Beach Cities Symphony programs, and raised money for student scholarships and End Polio Now.
Hermosa Rotary looked after youth with monthly awards programs and a youth protection seminar. Club President Jennifer Floto serves as faculty advisor to the Rotaract Club at USC.
Rotary was born in 1905, and now Rotary International has 1.2 million members in more than 34,000 clubs.
Hermosa Rotary was launched in 1931.
