Causes We Support

Food and Health Services

We partner with our local Food Bank and with Health and Human Services to meet the urgent and ongoing food and health needs of our community.

Recent actions include donating 1,800 cans of vegetables plus 1,100 servings of farm fresh produce and a food drive to collect over 1,000 pounds of food in support of the Food Bank of Nevada County. Club members packed boxes of food for home delivery and student lunches during summer break.

Each year Nevada County Health and Human Services hosts a drive-thru flu shot clinic. They also hosted a series of COVID Shots for Kids clinics. We are on call with the County to support the clinics.

Partnering with Nevada County Mask Warriors during the pandemic, we have distributed free face masks to protect against COVID at special events throughout our community.

Environmental Sustainability: Recycling Plastic and LI Batteries

Nevada City Rotary took the lead to partner with Trex Company, Inc. to recycle stretchable plastics that Waste Management (WM) will not accept. The public response has been amazing! In less than 6 months we will have collected 4,000 lbs -- far exciting our goal of 500 lbs. See photos.

BriarPatch Co-Op says "Clearly this plastics recycling collection is one our community wants to support!" People are collecting plastics at home and bringing in bags to put in 50 gallon bins at 10 commercial and residential sites around Nevada City and Grass Valley.

Club volunteers empty the bins and deliver them to SaveMart grocery who has graciously agreed to add the collected plastics to their collections which are trucked to a location in central California for distribution to Trex. The stretchable plastic then becomes material for the production of Trex decking, furniture and other products. The Club received Trex benches made of recycled plastics that are installed at Briar Patch and on a Bear Yuba Land Trust trail in Woodpecker Preserve.

Our plastics recycling program is one of a number of environment projects we host throughout the year. In partnership with Redwood Materials, we host rechargeable lithium ion battery recycling events.

Educating ourselves and community, we actively join Rotary's ESRAG Plant Rich Diet Challenge.

In the Spring, the Club distributes pollinator wildflower seeds at Nevada City Chamber’s Earth Fest to promote environmental awareness in our community.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awakening (RYLA)

A Youth Leadership Training Awakening for next year’s High School Seniors and tomorrow’s leaders.

RYLA is an intense and incredibly challenging program, sponsored by Northern California and Nevada Rotary Districts 5180 and 5190. The program has been designed to engender passion, resilience, determination, mental toughness, gratitude and compassion. In addition, the program will instill in the participants the value of Service above Self, a core Rotary belief.

Each year we sponsor 2 - 3 students at Camp RYLA.

RYLA

Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership Program (REGL)

District 5190 offers the Rotary Eighth Grade Leadership Program (REGL), a special youth leadership program to selected 8th grade students. Attendance is by Rotary Club scholarship only; students are selected by their principals. We are proud to sponsor Mount Saint Mary's Academy students to REGL in recent years.

The purpose of REGL is to provide high quality leadership training with a strong emphasis on ethics. Our aim is to provide students with tools for the difficult choices that they face as they move into high school.

REGL

International Health and Community Development projects

Nevada City Rotary is proud to partner with the East Cape Health Center and Los Barriles Cabo Este Rotary Club to host health screening clinics throughout the region around Los Barriles in Baja, MX. School students and families are tested for glucose levels as a precursor for diabetes, blood pressure, vision and dental. Records are kept and follow up visits are held for those with immediate medical needs. We have supported the Centro de Salud government clinic in expanding the facility and have provided critical Physiotherapy equipment. See photos.

Many students commute extended distances over rough roads to get to school. These students board in albergues (dormitories). We have partnered with the Los Barriles and other Rotary Clubs to repair, refresh, and upgrade the student living facilities.

Through Amigos de Guatemala, we sponsor a young middle school student whom we will support at least through her high school graduation.

We also empower girls by providing reusable menstrual kits to girls and young women to support them in continuing school and life events to eliminate "Period Poverty". Through a District grant we purchased equipment and supplies to enable Club members to sew menstrual kits that are being sent to communities around Chiapas, MX and in Guatemala.

Each year Nevada City Rotary provides academic and technical scholarships to multiple students who are graduating from one of the local high schools in our community. The scholarships support students in advancing their education and developing technical skills and proficiencies for life long careers and trades.

The Rotary Foundation, in partnership with local Clubs, invests in our future leaders and philanthropists by funding scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study. Global scholarship grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus.

We were proud to sponsor Rotary Global Scholar Evani Radiya-Dixit for her research project at the University of Cambridge for 2021-2022. Evani's focus is Promoting Peace by examining facial recognition technology's impact on human rights and investigate how governance can prevent misuses of the technology in a manner that eliminates discrimination and promotes peace.

Wrenn Cleary has been selected as a Rotary Global Scholar for 2023-2024. Wrenn is pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Oxford in Water Science, Policy and Management. Her degree aligns with two main Rotary causes: Protecting the Environment and Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Beautifying Trails and Parks

Nevada City Rotary has built local several trails. In partnership with the City of Nevada City, the Club built a small public nature trail called "The Miner’s Trail" that meanders along Deer Creek and under the Highway 49 in 1998. The Club planted trees, created rock benches and printed guides to the trail. A quiet way to enjoy a bit of nature while downtown.

Partnering with Bear Yuba Land Trust, the Club built the memorial Noel Carter Loop Trail as an extension to the Orene Wetherall Trail in Woodpecker Preserve. In 2023 we installed a Trex bench earned through our plastics program.

Each year we roll up our sleeves and dig in the dirt together planting more daffodil, crocus and hyacinth bulbs and doing general clean up around Penzance Park. Nevada City Rotary helps the City maintain the park in honor of the Sister City relationship between Nevada City and Penzance, the westernmost port in Cornwall, England.

We also partnered with the five Western Nevada County Rotary Clubs to complete the Heritage Garden at North Star House Conservancy.

Ending Polio

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.

As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.

Locally Nevada City hosts a walk or other event around World Polio Day. In 2023 Nevada City Rotary launched its Pumpkins for Polio project. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort. See photos.

END POLIO NOW

Nevada City Rotary sponsors students to participate in Rotary Speech and Music Contests each Spring.

For Speech, high school students compete in a contest at one of the five Rotary Clubs of Western Nevada County. Winning participants in each of the Club Contests advance to the local Area Contest. The winner of the Area Contests will then advance to the District 5190 Speech Contest.

Local area Rotary Clubs host a music competition and afternoon concert for talented high school musicians. The winning competitor advances to the Rotary District 5190 Music Contest.

Fellow Rotarian Chief Dan Foss turns to Nevada City Rotary for extra smiles, hands, eyes, and ears during special events. We are proud to expand the capacity of our Nevada City Police Department.

Colors galore are splashed everywhere to the delight of kids of all ages during National Night Out.

You will see Nevada City Rotarians on the streets during our festive events such as Victorian Christmas and Hot Summer Nights welcoming local friends and visiting tourists.