Rotary Club Public Access to Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) and CPR Training

Members of Kiwanisland, the Gem and Festival Amphitheatre Received Training in Lifesaving CPR and AED Use

In 2009, at the Garden Grove High School’s first football game of the season, a player collapsed and died on the field. There was no Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) available. California Law only requires health clubs to have one on premises. The Garden Grove Rotary Club has taken on the project of supplying AEDs to places in the community where there is high potential for use.

The Garden Grove Rotary Club established a local Public Access to Defibrillators Program (PAD) in 2009 and have been acquiring and placing these life life-saving devices at over 20 various locations throughout the community. They have been working with local community groups and organizations in order to facilitate the placement of the devices in public places, with citizens and employees trained to use them. Eleven of them have been placed into service at the Louis Lake Senior Citizen Center, the Garden Grove Community Gym, the Acacia Adult Day Center, both Boys and Girls Club campuses, the Gem Theatre, the Festival Amphitheatre, Kiwanisland, all three Little League Fields, and the Elk’s Lodge (2/17). In the Summer of 2014, the club donated nine (9) AEDs to the Garden Grove Unified School District for each of its nine (9) high school campuses.

In June 2016, a Bolsa Grande High School tennis player collapsed on the court. The high school Physical Education staff used the newly donated AED to regain the student’s breathing and heartbeat until the paramedics arrived to transport the student to the emergency room, where they recovered.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) not only occurs to the seniors in our community, but also to young student athletes on the playing field. It is important that those community members at risk receive resuscitation via an AED as soon as possible. Every minute counts to help save lives before the paramedics arrive.

The Club’s plan is to continue to place as many of these units into operation as our ongoing funding will allow. The Rotary Club will provide the AED, and the recipient organization maintains it. The Public Access to Defibrillators program also helped with the installation of the units and having people trained in both CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillation).

In the Spring of 2017, the list of all these Community AEDs have been provided to both the City’s Police and Fire Departments to help assist in emergency responses.

Your contribution can help make the difference in a life or death situation. Please join the Garden Grove Rotary Club in this important effort now. For additional information regarding AED’s or to donate to the campaign, please contact Rotary’s AED campaign chair, Scott Weimer at 714-534-0992.

Family Food Distributions

The club has received funds for the past three years from the District Designated Matching Funds to provide for a series of food distributions at two family resource centers in the city. The Rotary Club members participate with the community volunteers to bag and distribute food to needy families in the city. There were food drops during the last three years, serving over 2000 families. Funding was also used to create one new and restock the “Emergency Food Pantries” at these two neighborhood centers (Buena Clinton Family Resource Center & Magnolia Park Family Resource Center).

Park Clean-Up Day (Rotarians at Work Day)

Atlantis Park

The Rotary club and one of its Interact clubs (Bolsa Grande High) spent Saturdays scrapping and repainting railings and other equipment in order to get it ready for its 50th anniversary. The pond was also cleaned and repainted by Rotary club members. Many of the club members and Interact club members remember playing there as children. It holds special memories for these members and many thousands of youngsters in the community over the last 50 years.

The park is a special park created for younger kids and their parents around a nautical theme. Adults must be accompanied by a small child to be allowed in the park. This family park can be rented to hold birthday parties and other special kid events.

Annual Toy Drive for Disadvantaged Children

Julie Cotton and Vicky Casillas of the Garden Grove Community Services Department are Presented a Check from Bill Annan, Past President of the Garden Grove Rotary Club

The Christmas season can be a depressing time for children who have little. Working with the Garden Grove Community Foundation, the Rotary Club of Garden Grove each year strives to see to it that at least 300 disadvantaged families in Garden Grove will have toys under the tree for their children. Every year the Garden Grove Community Services Department and the Garden Grove Foundation sponsor a Toys-for-Tots program to insure that children who would otherwise share a bleak Christmas have something to bring a smile. For the past few years, our club has joined the program by contributing funds for this annual project.

High School Interact Club

Over the years, the Club has sponsored high school service clubs (Interact Clubs) at Bolsa Grande High School, Garden Grove High School and Pacifica High School. These clubs provide high school students with an opportunity to give back to their community through school service projects and learn about leadership roles and responsibilities in running their campus organization.

Miss Garden Grove Scholarship Pageant

The Club has sponsored participants in the pageant for over 50 years. The 2011 participant, Leah Cecil (Tibbitts), and the 2012 participant, Bree Morse, became both Miss Garden Grove and Miss California. Recent sponsored participants have become Miss Garden Grove: 2014 – Jessica Tont, while others had the opportunity to participate in the talent and educational program.

Miss Garden Grove Scholarship Pageant: Club sponsors winners. Click here to see the results.