Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues:  peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; economic and community development

ANNOUNCING
 
BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE 
 
LOBSTERFEST
2025 FUND-A-NEED RECIPIENTS
 
Big Wave Group
Big Wave Harvest Festival will be hosting an event on September 13th,  for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their family/caregivers to come together, make connections, build friendships and find joy. The event will include social, recreational, and educational opportunities to support their mental health. The event will feature music, food, adaptive arts and crafts, and adaptive recreation and games and will take place at the Big Wave Farm in Princeton Harbor, in an outdoor environment where participants can feel free to be themselves and interact with their peers.
Funds raised will pay for food, a band, raffle prizes, equipment rental, signage and rental of additional port-a-potties.
Rotary can help by participating in the event by volunteering, providing cakes for cake walk, or donate raffle prizes. 
Maiden Voyage Productions
The funds will be used to introduce Mirror-a newly released journaling App that supports teen mental health and emotional well-being-to adolescents at the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside in July, and CoastPride in September.
Mirror is backed by robust clinical research that supports journaling as an effective tool for mental health and personal growth. It offers teens the privacy they need to reflect, build resilience, and become more comfortable with who they are. It is designed to enhance these benefits with interactive prompts and AI driven insights to guide self-reflection.
Funds raised will pay for a training video, stipends for youth mental health ambassadors, and video crew expenses.
Rotary can help by being supportive of the project and will receive publicity and credit for funding the grant. 
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UPDATE - MEETING TODAY 
 Odd Fellows Hall at Noon
526 Main Street
 
Our Speaker is Ralph Guggenheim
 

Ralph Guggenheim excelled in his studies at New Rochelle High School and earned admission to Carnegie Mellon University. At Carnegie Mellon University, Ralph became one of the first students in Dietrich college to self-define a major in film,[1] and went on to create a documentary about the Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science. Creating the documentary exposed him to the 3D research at the time and fostered his interest in continuing on in his Masters at CMU in the School of Computer Science. Guggenheim stayed in Pittsburgh and graduated in 1977 with a Masters in Computer Science.

After his time at CMU, Ralph worked for the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab. He was soon contacted by Lucasfilm and moved to California in 1980. During his time at Lucasfilm, Ralph developed EditDroid, which proved to be a revolutionary film-editing system. After his research the lab at Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and renamed Pixar, Ralph continued to work in the world of graphics and animation. Ralph, a respected founder of Pixar, eventually became Vice President of Feature Animation and co-produced Toy Story alongside Bonnie Arnold.[2] Ralph left the company in 1997 after Disney forced Pixar to remove him as producer from Toy Story 2.

Since his time at Pixar, Ralph has worked as an executive at Electronic Arts. After his time at Electronic Arts, Guggenheim started Alligator Planet LLC with three other partners. Guggenheim is currently the CEO of Alligator Planet.

The topic will be how to tell a story in film
 
 
 
ROTARY CLUB OF HALF MOON BAY PRESIDENT 2024-25 
Dr. Irwin Cohen
 
 
Dr. Irwin Cohen, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y.  has been a podiatrist in Half Moon Bay since 1975.  He was in the Rotary Club of East Palo Alto in 1973 for about a year and half and then rejoined Rotary in 1982 in Half Moon Bay through the introduction of Dr. Eric Shapira. He was president of the HMB Rotary Club in 1994. He has lived in El Granada since 1979 and is married to Nancy Wolfberg who has just joined Rotary in 2024. He has a daughter, Mira and a grandson Saulie.  He enjoys ocean kayaking, mountain bike riding, jazz, movies and traveling
 
This year his goals include 
  • Help re-establish emergency services on the Coastside
  • Collaborating with the Pacifica and San Mateo Rotary Clubs and Sea Huggers in a joint project to eliminate plastics from beaches and waterways 
  • Make the accomplishments of the HMB Club more visible to the community 
  • Make meetings compelling by bringing in exciting speakers that will educate, entertain and inspire
 
 
COASTSIDE GIVES 

The day-long celebration of GIVING to our community was on May 1, 2025.

This year’s contributions made to the Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay Foundation through Coastside Gives will enable us to provide assistance for programs that focus on mental health and social emotional wellness of our youth.

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District Assembly
It was a wonderful district Assembly this past weekend ushering in our new President Elect Kevin O'Brian and new District Governor Mitone Griffiths. Breakout meetings were insightful and will be shared with the club.
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IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO!
Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues:  peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; economic and community development
 
 The Rotary Club of Half Moon Bay for qualifies as a ShelterBox Hero Club. This work is more important than ever, especially with the recent developments in Syria and the IDF and Hamas executing a ceasefire in Gaza.
 
Dictionaries Distributed to 3rd Graders
 
Rotary District 5280 Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Fund
Dear Friends,
Two months ago, wildfires tore through our communities, leaving devastation in their wake. In that moment of need, the Rotary world responded with overwhelming generosity, demonstrating what it truly means to be people of action. Your contributions to the Rotary District 5280 Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Fund have allowed us to bring hope and tangible support to those most affected.
Because of you, we’ve been able to directly aid families who lost their homes, assist small businesses struggling to rebuild, and stand beside our brave first responders. We’ve already distributed over $200,000 in relief efforts, ensuring that help reaches those who need it most.
Your generosity has:
  • Provided hot meals for students unable to attend school in the early days of the disaster.
  • Supplied hygiene kits to exhausted first responders working tirelessly to keep us safe.
  • Supported city and county linemen, ensuring they had nourishment and resources while restoring critical power and communication lines in Altadena and the Palisades area.
  • Offering rental assistance to families striving to regain stability in the aftermath.
While we’ve done a great job responding to immediate needs, our work is far from over. As we look ahead to the summer, we recognize the need for long-term support. Rebuilding takes time, and we must work alongside key partners to assist in this process. Our district is beginning to strategize on how we can play a role in supporting the city and county with rebuilding efforts. I will keep you all informed as we move forward and identify the most pressing needs.
From Malibu to Palisades, from Altadena to beyond, your generosity has made a difference. While our district neighbors Altadena and District 5300, we proudly stand united—because in Rotary, there are no boundaries, only love and service for our fellow human beings. Thank you for believing in the power of Rotary, for answering the call, and for showing the world what compassion in action looks like.
With deep gratitude, District Governor Albert Hernandez
 
   Monthly Community Breakfast
We are cooking and serving breakfast to the underserved in our Community once a month. Below is a picture of some of our Club members who cook, serve and clean up for the Community Breakfast Program.
 
 
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HMB Art and Pumpkin Festival, October 2024
It was showtime, and Rotary was in the house! 
 

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Beach Clean Up
Thanks to Susan, Warren, Mike, Heather and Dennis and other volunteers for collecting 50 pounds of garbage at Dunes Beach during our September Beach Clean Up!
 
RELAY FOR LifE
Our club with support from team members, family members, friends, community members, and business partners raised almost $16,000! A special thank you to Robin Kirby who donated $5000 to our team (via TWICE!!!!!!!  Also a special thank you to our own Renee Lewis who continues to work her magic by hosting a fundraiser each year to raise money for this event, which brought in another $2500+. Our club also sponsored the event so we were featured on one of the posters around the track.  
 
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Helping in Mexico Again This Year
Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues:  peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; economic and community development
 
Our club has sent a team to La Paz, Mexico, Baja California Sur for a number of years supporting a medical clinic. This past year they delivered gifts to the director and helped move a donated mobile unit to the clinic property, and they worked at the Fundacion Astra. Two club members put activity packets together for the children and three started to strip the newly acquired mobile medical clinic in preparation of its facelift. The evening ended with a farewell dinner for our hosts…. Until next time!!