Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Rotary Club of Gilroy hands out nearly 900 coats and jackets to needy
Employees at Germain’s Seed Technology held an internal coat drive to support the Rotary’s coat drive
Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Gilroy
Rotary Club of Gilroy members drop off coats and jackets at the PitStop.
By Robert Airoldi
Robert Airoldi
Hundreds of South Valley men, women and children will be a little warmer this winter after the Rotary Club of Gilroy collected nearly 900 clean, gently worn, or new coats and jackets. The project was part of One Warm Coat’s drive that collected them during the month of January.
“This coat drive was important to our Rotarians as we recognize that now, more than ever, the need goes beyond the homeless,” said Dr. Kathleen Rose, Rotary Club of Gilroy’s president. “With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on so many in regard to job security and income, we realized that many would have to choose between warm coats and food or housing expenses. We wanted to ensure that we could help alleviate some of the stress for those decisions.”
The coat drive was an overwhelming success. Community members stepped up by clearing out closets and donating unused or outgrown coats and jackets. A generous donation came from the employees at Germain’s Seed Technology who held an internal coat drive to support the Rotary’s coat drive and collected 380 coats and jackets.
The coats and jackets have been distributed to Community Solutions, PitStop, Gavilan College Food Pantry, Salvation Army, Cecilia’s Closet and the YWCA Silicon Valley. Some were also provided to the Gilroy Police Department and officers distributed to families they know are in severe need. They also provided coats and jackets to Christopher Ranch to distribute to their employees and families.
Excellent job, Rotarians, in helping our community! Want to help? Contact the club at [email protected] or visit www.gilroyrotary.org.
Speaking of clubs helping the community, the Gilroy Lions Club is participating in the California Lions Project Care: Hunger, a statewide Lions Clubs Service project conducted this month. The club is collecting non-perishable food items for distribution to the Edward Boss Prado Foundation, Salvation Army, and St. Joseph’s Family Center at the Nob Hill store in First Street.
The purpose of the project is to engage California Lions Clubs of all sizes in a statewide community service program that is of such vital importance during this COVID- 19 pandemic.
Gilroy Lions Club President Lee Kalpin said he was excited about participating in this statewide project. “The goal of the California Lions Project Care: Hunger is to collect 150,000 pounds of non-perishable food items throughout the state and we look forward to the Gilroy Lions Club making a significant contribution to achieving this goal.”
If you are interested in learning more about how you can join the Gilroy Lions Club and participate in their community projects/programs, please contact Kalpin at [email protected].
Brien and Sally Devine
Ready for a delightful Valentine’s story about romance in the heart of the Garlic Capitol of the World? Then you’ve got to read the fun “Downtown Gilroy is for Lovers” first-place essay contest entry by local residents Brien and Sally Devine.
Local couples were invited recently by the Gilroy Downtown Business Association to write an essay of 500 words or less describing how they first met and fell in love. The top prize is a gift basket donated by downtown merchants.
The Devines provided a tale titled “Worth the Wait!” that shows us all love will eventually come if we have patience and hold on to hope.
Well done, Brien and Sally. Your story of finding true love was truly “devine.”
Richmond Appleton
If you’re looking for an interesting read, check out Gilroy resident Richmond Appleton’s recently self-published autobiography on his journey from life in a refugee camp to the United States. The book is titled “Finding Peace: A Refugee’s Story from Peril to Protection.”
Appleton grew up in a small fishing village in Liberia. At the age of five he contracted polio that paralyzed the left side of his body. Though limited in what he could do physically, his spirit remained strong. In his book, he shares how his faith in God brought him immeasurable peace battling a disability, terror of a civil war, and displacement from his home.
“I have always been one who believed in a higher power,” he said on his website. “God has been 
with me for as long as I can remember and I have witnessed the power of prayer. Because of my disability, I prayed for strength to keep up with my siblings as best I could. When I started formal education as a 10-year-old, I prayed to grasp the lessons I needed and not be broken by the cruel teasing of my peers. When the Civil War erupted in Liberia and I was forced to flee to a refugee camp in Ghana, I prayed for a safe journey. And when it became clear the war would never allow for my family and I to return to our home, I prayed for resettlement in the United States. God answered my prayers.”
Learn more about his book at richmondappleton.com.
Some sad news. One of Gilroy’s favorite — and fun — coffee shops, the First Street Coffee House became the latest business casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, shutting its doors Jan. 24. Gilroy staple for the past 26 years, the owners made the announcement on its Facebook page Jan. 18.
“Due to the extended government lockdown and decrease in traffic with no end in sight, we have been operating at a loss for some time,” the post read. “We have been blessed with the wonderful customers who have regularly visited our shop and wish you all the very best future.”
First Street Coffee thanked its customers on a Facebook post during its final day of operations.
“We also want to thank the wonderful, amazing, fantastic, talented, amazing, wonderful, fantastic and great staff we had,” the post read. “They greeted you and made your visit a comfortable one. It was hard to say goodbye to them today because they are more than staff, they will always be a member of our family. And there are so many customers we knew by name and they knew your order by heart.”
Mike Wasserman
Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents District 1 which includes Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, will give his State of the County address from 2 to 2:30 p.m., Feb. 22. To view visit bit.ly/3jtgpv8.
Finally, there are still a few days to see the 7th Annual Gilroy Center for the Arts Black History Month Virtual Slide Show. Visit: https://www.gilroycenterforthearts.com/cultural-events.html.
