What makes a community great? Is it good schools? Good health
facilities? Caring for the disadvantaged? Strong programs for
youth?
What makes a community great? Is it good schools? Good health facilities? Caring for the disadvantaged? Strong programs for youth?
Maybe it’s all of the above. But in San Benito County, it’s the members of local service organizations who work tirelessly every day to supporti civic institutions and variety of community programs that make this a great place to live.
Service clubs including the Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, the Community Foundation for San Benito County and many other groups are made up of individuals volunteering their personal time for the betterment of the community.
Whatever their individual reason for being involved in the service clubs, it seems like most individuals do it out of a deeper love for the Hollister community.
“It’s a great place to grow up and raise your kids. We feel that by being in a service club, it’s a great chance to give back to your community and keep it going,” said Allen Ritter, president of Hollister’s Lions Club.
For a person with a penchant for volunteering and some time to spare, there’s a community service group for about every interest in Hollister.
The Rotary Club has been in Hollister for more than 50 years, and comprises business owners, civil servants and people of influence in the community. Members are invited to join the club, but those who are interested are welcome to attend one of the meetings, said Mari Davis, the club’s spokesperson.
The group meets on a weekly basis, Davis said. She explained that even though they are always focusing on how to improve the community, they have a lot of fun, too. With 96 active members, the Rotary Club is always looking for ways they can come together for the community.
“We’re a cohesive group that really wants to give back and we’re always searching for ways to do that,” said Davis.
The activities the group takes part in range from fundraisers to volunteering. The group donates to various local groups such as Emmaus House, the center for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse, and youth sports. The Rotary Club also gives out scholarships annually to graduating high school seniors.
“Even though it’s an international organization, we focus on the local level,” Davis said. “It feels better for the group when you drive by, say, Chamberlain’s (Children Center) and say, ‘Wow, I did that!’ Or see kids come back from college and tell us how that scholarship gave them the extra edge. Sometimes that’s all it takes.”
Rotary raises money through various events, including its popular beer garden at the annual motorcycle rally.
Though the clubs may differ, it seems selling food (and drink) is a popular way to raise money here in San Benito County.
Like the Rotary, Kiwanis is an international group with a local chapter in Hollister. Kiwanis puts on many community service events throughout the year. One of the club’s most popular community service events is its annual “Breakfast with Santa,” which it puts on with the city recreation department.
“We try to find ways to help the youth, the needy and the elderly in the county,” said Hart.
Hart also explained that the group works in collaboration with the high school Key Club. Hart says he is encouraged to see the youth becoming involved and engaged in their communities.
“You see with the high school kids, they start with service and in high school and sometimes it’s required, but other people continue on,” Hart said.
However, in spite of the high school students participating in Key Club, the Kiwanis has had some trouble maintaining group membership. One of the club’s most popular events, the annual Snow Day in which Kiwanis brings in snow for children to play with in March, was cancelled this year due to the decrease in members and financial support.
“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to do some of the events that we used to because of the fewer people that used to make it happen,” said Hart. “I would love to see (the snow day) because that’s one of the events that you really get a lot of satisfaction in watching the joy in the kids while they’re participating, and that’s what this is really about.”
Kiwanis is not the only local club having problems with declining membership.
Ritter is the last remaining charter member of the local chapter of the Lions, having been involved for moer than 30 years.
The Lions and Kiwanis and many other local clubs have had difficulty with a decrease in membership, especially over the past couple years.
“It’s been hard for a lot of clubs,” Hart said. “We’ve had a lot of people who have moved away or resigned.”
Hart explained that while this was true in many of the clubs, the problem was especially devastating in Hollister, which has become a bedroom community for San Jose and the Silicon Valley in the past decade.
“The demographics of our community is we’re a mobile community that spends so much of the time on the road,” Hart said, explaining that it is hard to get commuters involved and attached to the community.
This idea was echoed by Ritter who said this was proving to be a real difficulty because many of the older members were retiring so there was a need to get younger blood involved.
“The big plan is to get the younger people,” Ritter said. “But it seems like the young married people are commuting a lot and they get home late and don’t feel like joining. We were very involved in the community at the time I first moved here.”
For those in the community who maybe do not have time to give, but instead would like to make financial gifts to help the community, Community Foundation for San Benito County matches individual interests with the needs of local nonprofit groups.
“A donor will come to us and say, ‘We have X amount of money to give the community,'” Community Foundation executive director Gary Byrne said. “So my job would be to ask them what their interests are. I tell them what options there are and what the needs are in the community.”
The Community Foundation has funds set up for many nonprofits throughout San Benito County, including Pet Friends, YMCA, Girl Scouts, Friends of the Library, Community Pantry and United Way.
Byrne said three nonprofits currently have major fundraising campaigns under way: Community Pantry, which is trying to purchase its building; the YMCA, which is working to buy some land to build a large new center; and the Chamberlain’s Children Center, which is renovating its facilities.
Community Foundation, Byrne said, has received substantial support from the community, from people who want to give back to their city.
“It’s just a wonderful community,” said Byrne. “They’re very philanthropic-minded. Anytime there’s a need, people always step up.”*
