Rotary to Be Honored for Helping Seniors

At the July meeting of the Granada Hills Rotary Club, members hit upon a way to help homebound senior citizens stay cool during the heat wave that brought triple-digit temperatures to the Valley.

Five weeks later, they have not only come through with electric fans for 67 seniors, but are receiving an award for their efforts.

The Granada Hills Rotary Club will be honored by Councilman Hal Bernson at Friday’s meeting of the Los Angeles City Council, said Oli Sar, a spokesman for Bernson.

The electric fans were bought after a unanimous vote to spend $1,000 in membership dues for them, said Ron Kari, president-elect of the Granada Hills Rotary.

To locate prospective recipients of the fans, the club enlisted the help of the Wilkinson Senior Center in Northridge, which delivers meals to homebound seniors in the northwest Valley, Kari said.

“When they presented us with their idea, I couldn’t believe how kind and generous they were to buy all these fans and give them to needy people during the heat wave,” said Rosalind Falk, a spokeswoman for the center.

Falk said the fans were distributed over one week.

“Some of the elderly are living on fixed income and some on Social Security, which is not much, and many of them were without cooling devices,” Sar said. “The Rotary is very community-oriented, and we in the community should really applaud their efforts.”

The proclamation will be presented before the 10 a.m. City Council meeting Friday, Sar said.

“It’s nice to be recognized by the City Council for doing something right, but we’re not looking for recognition,” said Kari. “There was a problem. It was hotter than blazes, and we went out and did something about it.”