“A Little Bit” of Leona Valley Sertoma

Other than the true fact that we are a small, but mighty group of “SERvice to MAnkind” members who are proud to represent Green Valley, Elizabeth Lake, Lake Hughes, Three Points and, of course, Leona Valley, as a heartfelt nonprofit organization who have bonded together in fellowship and teamwork in EVERYTHING that we have accomplished.

Our Leona Valley group was chartered in 1997 and is just one of the 750 clubs of both men and women throughout the USA that include Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Our Sertoma members’ interest is to encourage young people to strive for personal improvement at all times. We take great pride in the provision of local scholarships to graduating high school students, as well as to one special scholarship to an Antelope Valley College student who is majoring in deaf studies.

With the help of concerned citizens, encouragement and sponsorship, our mighty group has raised WELL OVER $150,000 from special fundraising events that has allowed our humanitarian efforts to care and provide for Veterans, local schools, Neighborhood Watch signs, holiday dinners, holiday food baskets, hearing disabilities, other local organizations, such as the Painted Turtle, and so much more.

We encourage you to visit our website – leonavalleysertoma.org regarding ALL information, blogs, scholarship, and photos pertaining to past and recent events.

We would love to meet you at one of our 8am Breakfast, we meet on the first and third Saturday of each month at Jack’s Place – 40352 90th St. West in Leona Valley. For more information on being our guest and/or learning more about Leona Valley Sertoma, email us membership@leonavalleysertoma.org

Our voice is a beacon for those who wish to serve and WE would love to meet you!

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Here is another “little bit” of what we do, on November 20, 2021 we held a 2 ½ hour Mini Gala sponsored by Jacks Place . Our mission and  promise was to contribute a portion of our earnings to a Veterans organization AND, WE DID!  We chose Vets 4 Veterans due to their dedication to empower local veterans who have suffered the physical and psychological wounds of war by providing safe and stable housing and scholarships that would guide them in their process of healing. We are so proud to support Vet 4 Veterans.

We also want to thank our member and treasurer, Michelle McAlister, for creating the mock-up check.

 

A St. Patrick’s Day Tradition Continues

The St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser 2022 says good-bye to the Covid Pandemic. It has been two and a half years since Leona Valley Sertoma has hosted their annual Saint Patrick’s Day feast. This dinner has always featured the traditional corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes.

St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser 2022

Thanks to the sponsorship of Jack’s Place, and a full house of our extremely generous and loyal patrons, the St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser 2022 raised ample funds for this year’s scholarship program. This program serves college bound students of the surrounding Lakes and Valley communities and including the Antelope Valley College. Leona Valley Sertoma has given out almost $50,000.00, in scholarships since 1999.

A Community Affair

The Leona Valley Sertoma St. Patrick’s Day Dinner is a long standing tradition and only one of the many good memories from my time as a Leona Valley Sertoman. As with most, if not all, of their events, the St. Patrick’s Day dinner is a fundraiser with funds going to support the community, the most significant of which is their scholarship program. This event, like all their events, brings people together giving them the chance to better know and, hopefully, care for each other. Isn’t that what a community is?

And you thought you were just getting a good meal for a good price.

Why I Like Sertoma

This didn’t just happen, it took planning, prepping, and work on the part of the members of Leona Valley Sertoma. The members volunteer their time and their talents to make this event, and everything they do, as successful as possible. This group of people with varying skills, life experience, and interest all have one interest in common; they love their community. That’s one of the things I liked about being a Sertoman. It gave me the opportunity to become a part of the community, to volunteer, to make new friends, and to contribute to the betterment of my new community. The name Sertoma is an acronym taken from the phrase, “SERvice TO MAnkind”, and through service the members work to “make a difference” in their community. That was another thing I liked about being a Sertoman.

Being a Part of a Community

Growing up I was a boy scout, I’m an Eagle Scout, so team work and community service is something I knew. As an adult, my career took me in a different direction and my ‘making a difference’ became writing a check for this or that charity, or fundraiser. Sertoma let me to go from being on the outside looking in to being a part of the team that made a difference with sweat equity. (I still write checks!) For me, that was a pretty good feeling. The video is from the 2004 St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and if you watch it you will see all the elements I’ve been talking about. People coming together to prepare the food, the community coming out and enjoying themselves and the clean up afterwards. All these things helped me become a part of the community and let me help make a difference. You will also see folks who may have moved away or are no longer with us, as well.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner 2022

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner will be hosted a different way. Sertoma has had less physical manpower since the pandemic, so it has required being creative in order to continue their scholarship program. This year’s event will be held at Jack’s Place, the local restaurant on 90th street, in Leona Valley, (see the flyer below) thanks to the generosity of Dave and Bob, the owners of Jack’s Place.

The St. Patrick’s Day Dinner tradition continues bringing with it some much desired normalcy after the disruptions of the last two year. I hope you will be supportive and come out to spend time with your friends and neighbors, while enjoying a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. you will get a delicious meal and time with friends, but you will be giving so much more.

I hope you enjoy this video as much I did as I watched it again. If Sertoma sounds interesting and you would like to be involved in making a difference through community service, then I urge you to seek out a member to find out more. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, at 8:00am, at Jack’s Place.

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