‘Families Left Behind’ Fundraiser To Benefit U.S. Marine Families

Coto de Caza/RSM Rotary del sol Encourages Community to Support Marine Families During the Holidays

The Rotary Club of Coto de Caza/Rancho Santa Margarita del Sol anticipates this holiday season to be its most successful effort to bring relief and a little extra joy into the lives of the families of U.S. Marines faithfully serving overseas. In cooperation with Camp Pendleton’s Armed Services YMCA, the Rotary Club will lift holiday spirits by raising funds for groceries, clothing, incidentals and other extraordinary expenses through the 5th annual Families Left Behind initiative.  

“We are excited to share some holiday cheer with the families that serve as the real back-bone of the United Sates,” said Dean Keller, program chairman of the Families Left Behind project. “Through our strong network and community, we can support the spouses and children of Marines over-seas during the holidays and remind them how much we appreciate their sacrafices.”

This holiday season, the Rotary of Coto de Caza-RSM will provide hundreds of fully cooked hams and commissary gift certificates for the families of young Camp Pendleton-based Marines. Additionally, club members are helping the Armed Services YMCA childcare, after-school tutoring and mentoring programs on the base, which are crucial to the children facing issues due to a parent’s absence. With the support of community members and local businesses such as Shulman Hodges & Bastian LLP, Cox Communications, SoCal Self Storage and the Boy Scouts of America Troop 636, Rotary del Sol will purchase, store, transport and deliver the hams to the families at the Marine base.

Donations can be made to The Rotary Foundation of Coto De Caza/Rancho Santa Margarita del Sol, P.O. Box 81072, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, or online via www.CotoRsmRotary.org through the site’s “Donation Button.”  The foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. 

ABOUT THE ROTARY CLUB OF COTO DE CAZA/RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA:

The Coto de Caza/Rancho Santa Margarita del Sol Rotary Club was founded in 1983 by local residents and business owners who were looking to give back to their community. Originally named the Rotary Club of Coto de Caza/Trabuco Canyon, the club was renamed in 2001 to include the new city of Rancho Santa Margarita. To reflect a preference of being a somewhat non-typical Rotary club, and because the full name is just so long, the members have nicknamed it Rotary del Sol.  Rotary del Sol is a service club with men and women members from diverse business, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Having raised more than one million dollars, its members consist of business owners, professionals, management people, engineers, developers and much more, who live and/or work in the canyon areas, which include Coto de Caza, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch, Dove Canyon, Wagon Wheel and 

Rotary International is the largest service organization in the world, with more than 1.2 million members in 187 countries.

The club members meet on the 1st Thursday morning of the month at 7 A.M. and the 3rd Thursday evening of the month at 7 P.M. at Tijeras Creek Golf Club, 29082 Tijeras Creek, Rancho Santa Margarita, for breakfast/dinner and to share fellowship, listen to an exciting speaker and to plan community, international and vocational service projects. Typical community outreach efforts include fundraising to help the needy or sponsor school programs affected by budget cuts as well as “hands-on” projects, such as building homes, bus shelters and parks, helping Marine families left behind, helping abused women and children and much more. The Club welcomes all men and women who want to give back to their community and share fellowship with others. If you have an interest in Rotary, contact Jeffrey Sawyer at 310-365-0708 or jeffreysawyer@gmail.com, or visit www.CotoRsmRotary.org.