The PVP Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees met this week to evaluate and decide from a large number of Grant Applications received.
The following grants were approved:
Peninsula Seniors will receive $2,000 for Purchase of a Philipps Automated External Defibrillator
The Salvation Army College will Receive $2,000 for the purchase of 8-10 Chromebook devices for use by the children for educational purposes
The PV Art Center will receive $5,000 to support the PVAC Youth Studio Digital Arts lab by purchasing digital tools and equipment, such as tablets, styluses, beginner 3D and animation software, and digital filmmaking supplies.
Collage: A Place of Art and Culture will receive $8,100 to support their programs to refurbish musical instruments and equipment to be donated to students who lost access to school-provided instruments. Funds may also be used to advance their various music instructional programs.
TheRotary Club of Panaji, Goa, India will received $1,100 to contribute to their $8,500 fundraising effort to purchase 3 Fundus Photo Devices to mitigate blindness related to Diabetes in the local population. Sanjay Murty will be personally matching this grant.
Peninsula Heritage School will receive $2,500 to provide scholarships to children who would otherwise not be able to attend without financial assistance.
The Joanna Medawar Nachef Singers will receive $2,100 to provide for the travel and housing expenses for an underserved student to perform with the group at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City on May 29, 2027.
Unity Water Foundation will receive $2,500 (with a matching grant from our Rotary Club) for a total of $5,000. The funds will be used to purchase additional Hippo Rollers and water filtration systems.
The Peppertree Foundation will receive $4000 to support the development of the new George F Canyon Nature Center.
The above grants were funded from the Foundation's Schaber and Long Term Investment accounts.
In addition to the above grants, $25,000 has been set aside for individual scholarships to be given to local students, including 4 scholarships for students in need at El Camino College. These are funded by Sponsors of our club's Educator of the Year event.
What is the Schaber account referenced in Story # 1 above?
John Schuricht tells us:
Erhard Schaber, a close Schuricht family friend, was a member of our Club in the 1990’s and was a retired restaurateur. His family owned cafeterias in downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood. After his passing, his widow Rowena still attended Rotary holiday events. After she died, the Schaber family estate gave $250,000 to our Club Foundation, trusting us to support local education projects. It was the single largest gift, and substantially increased our ability to fund worthy organizations. Their intention was for the funds to be spent rather than be an eternally perpetual source, so last year the Foundation Board established a fixed amount of $25,000 per year to be distributed for those educational purposes until they are exhausted in 10-15 years, depending on the performance of the invested funds.
Judi was elected to be the 2026-2027 Public Relations Chair. As that position was vacated earlier this year, Judi volunteered to get a head start by filling that position now.
She has already begun working hard to develop a strategy. We are ramping up the goals of the position and she needs all the help that can be offered. If you would like to be on her committee, please let her know. Thank you Judi for jumping into the position with gusto!
Dr.Joe W. Ramos, PhD became the President and CEO of The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in early 2025. TLI is a leading nonprofit biomedical research organization in Los Angeles dedicated to advancing medical research, delivering on our mission to improve patient outcomes through cutting-edge research, education, and community engagement.
Previously, Dr. Ramos was the Director and CEP of the Louisiana Cancer Research Center (LCRC) and Director of the Louisiana State University LCMC Health Cancer Center in New Orleans. Before his time in Louisiana, he was the Interim Director at the University of Hawai’i Cancer Center (an NCI-designated Cancer Center), where he served more than 10 years in various leadership roles through two renewals of NCI designation.
Dr. Ramos grew up in a small town in Virginia and completed his undergraduate degree and his PhD at the University of Virginia Medical School. He went on to do postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Driven by a passion for research that makes a difference in people’s lives, he works to assemble and lead formidable teams to conduct groundbreaking research, deliver exceptional clinical care, foster education, and engage with communities, all dedicated to addressing the unique needs of local populations.
