Our club welcomed Jennifer Contreras, Community Engagement Specialist at Ontario International Airport, this past Wednesday. She gave us an update on the airport’s continued growth, including its 10th anniversary of local control this November, several new nonstop routes launching this year (Honolulu and Chicago O’Hare among them), and record passenger numbers expected this summer. Thanks, Jennifer, for the great update on our hometown airport!
Today Riverside East Rotary was lucky to be joined by local writer, educator, and community booster Larry Burns, who shared his frontline experience navigating generative AI in the classroom at Riverside City College. Rather than banning AI or blindly embracing it, he’s helped students to better understand it and to start thinking critically about it as a tool.
We were also happy to welcome back our new Club President, Nick Lopez, from his travels abroad!
Today at Riverside East Rotary, we were honored to hear from Ken MacKillop, an Outreach Worker with the City of Riverside’s Public Safety and Engagement Team (PSET) — the people on the front lines of our community’s response to homelessness.
Ken gave us an up-close look at his journey to the role and to of the human side of this work: meeting people where they are, connecting them to resources, and building the trust that’s often the first step toward a path off the streets. It’s not easy, but it’s some of the most important work happening in our city right now.
Today we were joined by our very own Richard Lemire, District Governor Elect, who talked to us about his trip to the 2026 Rotary International Convention in Taipei, Taiwan. Also attending the Convention was Nick Lopez, President Elect.
The convention ran June 13-17 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center and the Taipei Dome, drawing more than 37,000 Rotary members and participants from over 140 countries.
At the opening ceremony, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te welcomed attendees and urged Rotarians worldwide to work together: “Let’s work together to Do Good in the World. In our commitment to peace, public health, environmental sustainability, humanitarian aid, and beyond, Taiwan will continue to walk hand in hand with Rotarians worldwide.”
Highlights of the convention included a general session address by Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as well as remarks from Mike McGovern, chair of the polio oversight board for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, on progress toward a polio-free world.
It marked the first time in 32 years that Taipei had hosted the Rotary International Convention.
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Today we were honored to welcome Elisa Lunsford from Serenity Kids Foster Care & Adoption as our guest speaker. Serenity is a nonprofit serving Riverside and surrounding counties with the mission of providing loving foster homes for abused, abandoned, and neglected children and breaking the cycle of abuse through early intervention.
Today Riverside East Rotary was joined by Linda Lawyer. She shared an update on the Riverside Community Sailing Program and the upcoming Sailing Regatta on June 6th. Riverside East Rotary is a long-time supporter of this event and looks forward to it every year!
Today Riverside East Rotary was joined by Sam Olivier from Notre Dame High School. Sam shared his experience with RYLA last weekend. He did a great job painting a picture of what the weekend was like and patiently fielding our questions. Thank you for visiting us Sam!
District Governor Elect Richard Lemire is spent the weekend supporting Sam and the other young leaders through RYLA. He is pictured here with the students sponsored by Riverside East Rotary.
