On March 24, the Rotary Club of Westchester is turning 75! The club, which was chartered in 1950, has a long history of supporting the 90045 and is gearing up to recognize this momentous occasion with a special gala event entitled, “Celebrating the Art of Service” on Saturday, March 29 at Otis College of Art and Design.
To commemorate the occasion, the Westchester/Playa Historical Society is also welcoming the neighborhood to visit its latest exhibit, “Celebrating 75 Years of Service.” Now on display at the Discovery Center, the exhibit is a look back at the club’s memorable moments, projects and members over its seven-plus decades of bringing “Service Above Self,” to the community.
The club was chartered in the 1950s as part of the expanding number of Rotary clubs throughout the Los Angeles region, the United States and around the globe. It was the first club in the Westchester/Playa/LAX area.
Instrumental in the early years of the Rotary Club of Westchester were Howard Drollinger and Lloyd Hild, both business leaders in the community. Rotary wore, and still wears, two hats, humanitarian service and business networking. Interestingly, it was initially an organization open only to men until the U.S. Supreme Court found, in the late 1980s, that Rotary was discriminating against women, due to its business networking component, by not allowing membership to females.
In August of 1987, the first female invited to join the Rotary Club of Westchester was Rowena Ake. Rowena was known as being a very successful business-owner in the Westchester community and owned several different companies, including a dry cleaners and a real estate office. The next invitations to female entrepreneurs in the area were extended to Valeria Velasco, Gwen Vuchsas, Carmela Raack and Cozette Vergari in the 1990s, all of whom are still Rotarians, but only Val and Cozette remain in the Rotary Club of Westchester. Today, the club is gender balanced, and looks for members who want to become active in the area and have a passion for supporting neighborhood projects and philanthropy.
Over the past 75 years, through its signature fundraising events, the club’s foundation has donated several million dollars in services to the Westchester/Playa community. Some of the club’s favorite ways to give back include scholarships for students in the eighth through 12th grade, vocational training and helping local nonprofits fulfill their mission. Some of the important nonprofits the club regularly partners with are Airport Marina Counseling Service, Westside Pacific Villages, Westchester Family YMCA and the Westchester Senior Center, as well as many youth sports and arts programs, just to name a few. Looking to expand its good work throughout the globe, the club also supports an orphanage in Thailand and donates money and people power in many foreign countries every year, in partnership and collaboration with Rotary Clubs in those countries.
The club’s signature activities include the annual Book Sale, which takes place over Memorial Day weekend with thousands of books sold, and its bi-annual Makeover Project.
Over the last 15 years, the Westchester Rotary Club has dedicated close to $1 million toward makeovers. In the beginning, the club would make over someone’s home, but eventually switched to community spaces to increase the impact. Over the last decade, with the help of sponsors and in-kind donations, the club has made over the Westchester Senior Center, Safe Place for Youth in Venice, St. Margaret’s Center in Lennox, and the Emerson Ave. Community Garden.
Late last year, the club also played a crucial role in helping support humanitarian efforts in Lahaina with funds and volunteers. Members worked with Maui-based nonprofits to build a tiny-home shelter, assemble a school library, landscaping, build shade structures and more.
For those unfamiliar with Rotary, the organization was born in Chicago in 1905. Its headquarters are still located in Evanston, Illinois. Once established in Chicago, its founder, Paul Harris, boldly reached out to the West Coast, chartering clubs in San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Los Angeles. The first Rotary Club in Los Angeles is known as LA5, and was chartered in 1909, as the fifth Rotary Club at the time.
Today, there are 63 clubs in L.A. County, with a membership of approximately 2,000. Worldwide, there are 1.2 million Rotarians collaborating to make the world a better place. As a testament to the power of the organization and its reputation for getting things done, the Los Angeles Rotary District Charitable Foundation recently raised more than $1.3 million in just over a month to aid victims of the recent fires and the LAFD Foundation, through its Fire Disaster Relief Fund.
The club invites the community and local businesses to show their support for the Rotary Club of Westchester’s special anniversary through sponsorship, donating an item for the silent auction, or by attending its gala event on Saturday, March 29. Festivities include a cocktail hour, seated three-course meal, music by the LMU Jazz Band, and dazzling visual images courtesy of Otis students.
For more info, please visit rotary-westchester.com/events/celebrating-the-art-of-service-westchester-ro.
Curious to learn more? Visit the Discovery Center located at 6207 W. 87th St. in the Westchester Triangle from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Sundays, and otherwise by appointment. Check out their website at wphistoricalsociety.org/discovery-center.
By Cozette is an attorney and lifelong resident of Westchester. She is the President of the WPHS. Together with a group of dedicated volunteers, the organization is working on creating new programming and events to celebrate the history of the area and engage the community in preserving it for future generations.
