COMMUNITY & CLUBS:Heading to the Philippines

Newport Beach Rotarian Kim DeBroux leaves Sunday for a month’s tour of Rotary District 3830 in the Philippines, as she leads the group study exchange team from Rotary District 5320.

Team members traveling with DeBroux are Shannon Hanners, an elementary school teacher; Phil Hughston, a trainer and technology consultant; and Christine Chan, an audio engineer and stage technician.

DeBroux, past president of the Newport-Balboa Rotary Club, is the third member to led a group study exchange team abroad in recent years. Mac MacAdam lead a team to Australia in 2001, and Nancy Raney led a team to England in 2002.

The group study exchange program of the Rotary Foundation is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 and in the early years of their professional lives.

The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. For four weeks, team members experience the host country’s institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

For each team member, the Rotary Foundation provides round-trip airfare between the home and host countries. Local Rotarians in the host area provide for meals, lodging and group travel within their district.

A five-member group study exchange team from District 3820 will visit our area in May and will be hosted in local Rotarians’ homes, observing their vocations and visiting Rotary Clubs.

SECOND SIGHTFIRST CAMPAIGN

SightFirst is Lions International’s most ambitious and most successful initiative ever, states Mike Mcilroy, president of the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club. Thanks to SightFirst, Lions have restored sight to 7 million people through cataract surgeries, have prevented serious vision loss for 20 million people and have improved eye-care services for hundreds of millions.

SightFirst was launched by Lions in 1989 to battle preventable blindness. Sadly, 80% of the world’s blind were needlessly without sight. Through SightFirst, Lions have prevented blindness by supporting cataract surgeries, helping to build or expand eye hospitals and clinics, distributing sight-saving medication and training eye-care professionals.

SightFirst has not only been stunningly effective but also startlingly efficient, states Mcilroy on the club’s website. On average, about every $6 in donations has resulted in a person with vision restored or saved from blindness. Campaign SightFirst has raised $143 million from Lions.

SightFirst is especially helping children. In partnership with the World Health Organization, SightFirst has launched the world’s first-ever global initiative to combat childhood blindness. The project is creating 30 centers for pediatric eye care around the world.

Campaign SightFirst II will enable Lions to expand the extraordinary work of SightFirst, with the goal to raise at least $150 million to continue to prevent blindness and restore sight.

LIONS UNFURL FLAGS

Harbor Mesa Lions recently distributed American flags to students at Whittier School in Costa Mesa and presented a program that included the original flag with 13 stars. Members Lou Bollick-Taylor and Ann Iverson chaired the project.

Lions International celebrates flag days annually every February in conjunction with Presidents Day.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for the Day, as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council:

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.”

— JOHN FOSTER DULLES

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

How are you giving back to your community? Help your community and the world through a service club. For many, service club membership is an extension of our religious beliefs and congregation affiliation.

You are invited to attend a service club meeting this week to learn more about service. Most clubs will buy your first meal for you as you get acquainted with them.

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 40-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at Five Crowns to hear Tom Knego speak about medical malpractice defense, www.newportbeachsunriserotary.org.

Noon: The 20-member Rotary Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Costa Mesa Marriott Suites.

WEDNESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 10-member Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at Denny’s Restaurant at the corner of Redhill Avenue and Bristol Street.

Noon: The 27-member Exchange Club of the Orange Coast meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club to hear historian George Grupe on George Washington.

6 p.m.: The 55-member Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club to hear Abdullah Farhad Akbar who counseled the CIA, www.newportbalboa.org.

THURSDAY

7 a.m.: The 20-member Costa Mesa Orange Coast Lions Club meets at Mimi’s Cafe.

9 a.m.: The 95-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a business meeting, members.cox.net /nhexchangeclub/index.htm.

Noon: The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn, www.kiwanis.org/club /costamesa; the 45-member Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club; the 85-member Rotary Club of Newport Irvine meets at the Radisson for a program on the Great Park, www.nirotary.org.