The Rotary Club of Alameda has been giving back to the community and world since its founding in 1920. So far this year, Rotarians have contributed to Alameda in a variety of ways. Rotarians have poured beer at both major festivals in town—the Art and Wine Faire on Park Street and the Brews, Blues, and BBQ festival in Washington Park. The Rotary Club also organized a much-needed food drive for the Alameda Food Bank (donate here), backpack drive for Alameda Education Foundation (donate here), and an underwear drive for the Shower Program at the Homeless Ministries of Christ Church (see their Amazon wish list to donate).
The Rotary Club of Alameda sponsored the bands for the Alameda Downtown Concert Series, which were free to the public this past summer. Rotarians have also participated in the Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda shoreline cleanups on the second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Seaplane Lagoon Promenade. The Club also provides dinner for the Midway Shelter once every other month.Upcoming Rotary projects will include sorting food for the Alameda Food Bank at the Scouting for Food program in November, and helping with the Alameda Point Collaborative holiday party in December by purchasing and sorting toys for kids, decorating tables, and serving dinner. The club is also going to do a pet food drive as well as a jewelry and watch drive to benefit Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter. The club also has traditionally helped Boy Scout Troop 11 with their Christmas Tree Recycling drive in January, driving trucks and hauling them to the recycling location to be made into pine-scented products.
Our Rotary Club recently received a grant to again plant trees in an Alameda Park in February and plans to partner with CASA and 100K Trees for Humanity for a couple of other park tree plantings in 2026. The club will also continue their annual fruit tree sapling giveaway at the City of Alameda’s Spring Shindig in April.
New this year, the Rotary Club will be organizing a lithium-ion battery recycling event in May or June as part of its mission to protect the environment, so save up those old lithium-ion batteries, rechargeable tools, electric toothbrushes, bluetooth speakers, smart watches, tablets, and cell phones.
The Rotary Club of Alameda offers a matching grant program in the fall and a Community Grant Program in the spring, which last year gave $44,500 to Alameda nonprofits in partnership with the Alameda Rotary Endowment Foundation. They also award scholarships to graduating Alameda seniors.
The Rotary Club of Alameda also works on international projects and has contributed $2,000 towards a water and sanitation project in Ghana and approximately $1,250 towards the eradication of polio so far this year. The club also will sponsor care for two children at the Coaniquem Burn Center Foundation in Chile.
The Rotary Club of Alameda is always looking for additional community service opportunities in Alameda, so if your nonprofit could use some help, please reach out via email to [email protected]. In order to have an even greater constructive impact on Alameda and the world, the club has an ambitious goal this year of growing by one third, and has already grown by 10% through October.
If you’d like to join and participate in community service while making friends and having fun, email Rotary or come to a 12:15 lunch meeting on the first three Tuesdays of the month at the Trinity Lutheran Church meeting hall, 1323 Central Avenue. Lunch starts at 12:15, and the meeting runs from 12:30 to 1:30.
Rotary Club’s philosophy is to do what you can when you can, and together we unite for good in the community and world—many hands make light work. Visit the Rotary Club of Alameda website for more information.
Joyce Mercado is the author of Save the Planet in Your Spare Time: A Climate Protection Handbook for the Busy Person, a member of Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA), and President of the Rotary Club of Alameda. Her columns are collected at alamedapost.com/Joyce-Mercado. She can be reached at
