The annual Pizza with Santa party was on December 19 at Centerville Presbyterian Church, with 5 families being served on a very special day. They began their day with decorating photo frames for the family photos with Santa taken by John & Joan Kimber; many families don’t have the luxury of family photos, so these are special. The day continues with playing in a jump house, and the highlight of playtime is the horse rides, provided by Niles Rotarian Manuel Franco and his family from Whispering Hills Ranch in Milpitas. The children are so excited to see, pet, and ride a horse, usually for the first time. The pony Priscilla and horse Trigger very nicely accommodated the riders throughout the morning. The morning culminates with a visit from Santa who sits with each family as they receive their gifts, provided by Niles Rotary. After the gifts, pizza is provided, courtesy of Pizza Italia. Niles Rotary has been having Pizza with Santa since 1998, and now works with the City of Fremont to select the families who will participate in the event. Niles Rotarian Rose Evernden-Andrade chairs this annual event.

Read the complete story and see more photos in the January 2016 Pinion.

Each year, Niles Rotarians volunteer to do Salvation Army bell ringing for one Saturday at Dale Hardware and the Safeway Hub. On December 12 we had over a dozen volunteers ringing the Salvation Army bells at the red buckets.

Read the complete story and see more photos in the January 2016 Pinion.

What a wonderful presentation by Dr. Rich Godfrey on September 10, 2015. His dedication and love for the people in Africa is unmatched.

During the heart of the Ebola break out, he flew into the middle of the storm to save others lives. With the longer term project of helping Walter Adero be trained and receive his doctor credentials, we Rotarians are supporting local people helping local people. Walter has become trained as the only orthopedic surgeon located in his area in West Kenya serving a population of approximately 2 million. He has plenty of clients to serve and thanks to Rotary’s efforts has received his education and agreed to stay in Kenya serving his people. The new project that Dr. Rich Godfrey is working on is funding supplies for the recently built hospital. He shared with us it’s like going to the dentist to have you teeth worked on and then you see the dentist walk into the room with a pair of rusty pliers. The hospital has staff and doctors that can prevent death, disfigurement and disability. They simply need the supplies and tools to accomplish these life changing procedures. Through the organization MedShare.org, Rotarians can supply this hospital with what typically would cost a hospital $300,000 for a mere $26,000. This is a project that is within the reach of our club and definitely within the reach of our district.

While known throughout the land for his Charlie Chaplin impersonations, Dr. Godfrey’s professional background is in surgical oncology. He recently retired after 21 years with Kaiser Permanente, and now works part-time with the Alameda County Medical Center as a volunteer and as Executive Director of the East Bay Foundation for Graduate Medical Education, representing the UCSF – East Bay Surgical Residency Program. He is currently active in many nonprofits, including Rotary, Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont (LEAF), Tri-City Ecology, East Bay Regional Parks Advisory Committee, Healing Muses and Hospital Familia, and leads international work in Kenya and Central America. We are lucky to cal Dr. Rich Godfrey one of our own at Niles Rotary Club of Fremont, California.