Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Introducing "Rotary Community Heroes of Hope" - a podcast dedicated to showcasing the profound impact of Rotary in District 5330 and beyond. Join us as we explore the remarkable stories of rotary heroes and initiatives that are transforming communities and creating hope around the world.
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Local Roots, Global Impact
What if your next neighborhood project could ripple across oceans? We sit down with Rotarian leader Patrick Dunn to trace a direct line from Reno’s river cleanups and community gardens to international efforts in Italy and Kenya, showing how local service scales when it’s connected to the right partners. Patrick’s journey—from campus organizing in Maine to district leadership—reveals a blueprint for turning passion into durable, community-backed change.
We dig into the nuts and bolts: how clubs coordinate with watershed groups to remove tires and invasives from the Truckee River, why community gardens cut carbon while boosting food security, and where small grants and municipal partnerships make the difference between a one-off cleanup and a long-term solution. Patrick breaks down Rotary Action Groups, especially ES RAG, as practical networks any member can join to access proven strategies for plastic reduction, watershed health, and reef restoration—no jargon, just tools that work.
You’ll also hear global stories with local lessons: Italian environmental cleanups guided by community champions, water and women’s microenterprise projects in Africa, and U.S.-based gardens funded through international Rotary grants. The takeaway is clear and actionable: reduce single-use plastics, plant and support community gardens, and collaborate across Rotary clubs and civic partners to unlock expertise, volunteers, and funding. If you’ve been looking for the simplest path from good intentions to real impact, this conversation maps it with examples you can copy tomorrow.
If this sparked an idea, follow the show, share it with someone who cares about clean water and resilient neighborhoods, and leave a review to help more listeners find these community-powered solutions.
Hello and welcome to the Community Heroes of Hope, a podcast where we shine a light on the remarkable individuals and projects in Rotary District 5330 that bring hope and change to our local and global communities. I am Judy Zelficar, your co-host and the current district governor of Rotary District 5330.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm Nyron McQueen, the Rotary District Governor elect. Together we're diving deep into the heart of the community service, showcasing the impact of dedication and collaboration in addressing some of the most pressing challenges our communities face.
SPEAKER_01:Each episode will tell stories of incredible people making a difference, innovating solutions, and inspiring others to take action.
SPEAKER_00:We'll also be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the projects that are transforming the lives that will discuss how you too can get involved, contribute, and be part of the positive change. Whether you're a seasoned Rotarian or just looking to give back, this podcast is for you.
SPEAKER_01:So join us as we explore the journeys, challenges, and successes of people like you who have stepped up to make a difference. Let's celebrate the spirit of community and the power of hope together.
SPEAKER_00:Don't forget to subscribe to the Community Heroes of Hope on your favorite podcast platform. Stay with us on this journey of inspiration, and let's spread the message of hope further than ever.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for tuning in. Let's get started.
SPEAKER_00:Well, Governor Judy, um, we're happy to have uh Patrick Dunn with us today, who is a one of our Rotarian experts in in peace and leadership as well as uh the environment and ecology. And uh Patrick, I welcome you to District 5330, and we're eager to hear more about how you have been working in these fields to really advance the the things that Rotary cares about. And uh the ecology and leadership and peace are definitely those three keys uh for our future. So please take the time and introduce yourself and then we can get into some QA.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. Good good day, everyone. Again, my name is Patrick Dunn. I currently live in Reno, Nevada, where I am part of District 5190. I am the peace chair for my district for for this year. And I'm also part of, well, I am on the board of directors for Reno Club of uh the Rotary Club of Reno, which is the oldest uh rotary club in Nevada. And in that capacity, I am also the peace chair slash environmental chair slash community services chair.
SPEAKER_01:So you got a lot of hats you're wearing there, Patrick. Well, today I think we really wanted to hear a lot about what you're doing in that environmental space. We haven't had a lot of guests that are talking about that, and Rotary is very, very um critical in uh focusing on the environment and vo focusing on climate. So maybe you could tell us what you're doing in that space.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. And I'll I'll start locally and then I'll go, I'll broaden it out. So locally in in Reno, I'm picking up where I left off when I moved from Windsor, California to uh to Reno. So uh in here in Reno, what I'm working on primarily is a lot of community service-based uh activities, local community where the environment I'm working with school organizations to reduce their carbon footprint, so to speak. So we're working on a lot of community gardens, trying to give back into the community in that respect, working on recycling, a lot of recycling activities. So I'm really focused in on that. And that's one of my main goals with the Rotary Club of Reno is to bring them into environmental areas. There hasn't been a lot of focus on that primarily in the in the northern Nevada and Reno area, so to speak. Not like in other areas, like as I said before in Windsor or in some of the other Rotary clubs uh nationwide. So we're we're starting off small, we're getting a lot of uh a lot of buzz, a lot of activities by working with local environmental groups, uh, friends of the Truckee River, uh, friends of Truckee River watershed. So we're working very closely with them to do a lot of river cleanups, uh getting a lot of the waste out of the rivers, uh especially along the Truckee River. Uh, we're also working on planting community gardens because they all impact one another. The seven areas of focus and United Nations sustainability goals, they all work together in the environmental space. So working very closely with that, getting a lot of buzz. So I don't work just with Rotary Club Areno, I work with the other several rotary clubs in the area, so we combine efforts a lot of times, where some clubs may not have the environmental chair. I serve kind of proactively in helping them. So it works out well.
SPEAKER_01:So, what got you started and where does that passion begin for climate change and environmental wellness in our in our communities?
SPEAKER_02:You have to you have to go back in my own personal story, going back decades to when I was in college. I back at the University of Maine, I was an environmental sciences major. So I was very active back in the early 80s in the environmental movement, doing a lot of Earth Day activities. I think my main focus, this is even before I became involved in Rotary. I didn't really even know what Rotary was back in the 80s when I was a college kid. Rotary wasn't strong in in Maine at that point. But I worked on having a campus-wide community cleanup day at the University of Maine, the first one that they'd had in decades at Maine. So we had a I'm getting a day off for all my fellow students at the University of Maine, but we turned it into a cleanup day at uh at the University of Maine, working with the campus in our local communities. And ever since then, as I got more involved in rotary, uh maintaining my toehold in the environmental space uh throughout my throughout my career, even though I was in a high tea and tech for a number of years, I always maintained that environmental passion. Goes back probably to if you go back to the San Calm County Almanac, Rachel Carson, and those early authors. This really inspired me.
SPEAKER_00:Well, if it sounds like you're a fellow excuse me, fellow New England boy like me. I'm from Massachusetts, but one of my good friends went to the University of Maine at Orinell.
SPEAKER_02:So that uh That's exactly where I went.
SPEAKER_00:Oopsie, there you go. Yes, small world. It is a small world. Um we are looking to do um, and we've already started down in our district, having uh an environmental committee and working now, collaborating with District 5300, and we're now pulling in District 5340, kind of doing a similar collaboration to what you're doing up there with 5190 and some of the other uh groups. What what where can we take this? I mean, where have you seen it? I I know you're saying hey, we're doing um working with friends of the Truckee Rigor River to clean up. And you know, for us down here in Southern California, we figure the Truckee River is kind of already clean coming out of Tahoe. You know, so to hear you say you're cleaning it up, but like it's kind of shocking because we're doing stuff here looking at at the Colorado or looking at the Rio Grande or some of the other ones. So what what what further, where do you see that going for you that maybe some of the um districts down here in Southern California can kind of uh emulate you and and and uh copy?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. I again we work with a lot of, as I said, with a lot of local organizations, but it and it's you may think that your water supply is clean, but when you start looking at it and you see the number of tires that are in the in the water, people just dispose of tires and with all the sometimes comes into play. You have you have to work a lot with with the local communities and uh city governments, county governments, state governments to help get those, get the community and get them get the funding in place to do a lot of that because it you can only do so much on with volunteers. You have to do a lot, then you have to start working with your community activists, your your local governments to get the funding to do a lot of these activities, just minor grants, working with the local watershed, working what do you need to do to get that out? I mean it's in Southern California, it's it's the it's the same. It may be just getting the some of the invasive plant life out of out of river. Well, we did that with Russian River when I was part of a rotary club of Windsor, uh getting work to pull the weeds up that clog the rivers and getting uh working with farmers to move their the cattle grazing away from the river so you're not getting that pollution into the uh into wastewaters. I think I was just in Portugal in the Porto region this fall, where we saw some great examples of how it's against the law essentially in Portugal to have the livestock right next to a river because of the waste that comes from that. I mean, it's not just the patulance of the piles, it's the it's the waste product. So that helps with the river cleanup as well. So you have to work with the constraints, find out what works in your in your region.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's a really great point that you bring up. And and you know, Rotarians tend to be go-getters, they're gonna, they're just gonna reinvent the wheel, get it all done themselves. When the reality is there are so many organizations out there that are already, you know, 10 steps down the line on making progress, and we can come in and really help support them and work together with them. So getting to know our environmental agencies in our in our district might be one of the first steps as we newly form this uh committee to be able to move forward and make an impact in our region.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, even working with within Rotary, with the with the ES RAG committees and things like that, I think one resource that's great that I I rely on a lot is the Rotary Club of Newport Beach. They have there's such then they're a total e-club, and we they do so much and with rotaries, with barrier reefs, with you name it across the world. They're one of the one of the leaders in in that full for rotary uh globally.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I'm gonna back up just one just one second and say, you know, we often throw out acronyms all the time, right? And ES RAG, I would say most Rotarians don't know what that means. So can you explain what that means and how does a rotary club or a rotarian get in touch with those rotary action groups?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. With the ES RAG is the Environmental Services Rotary Action Group. And you can through any, you can go online, uh they're on LinkedIn pretty strongly. You can contact me, I can help you put in in touch with that. Even within um within my rotary, you can you can find out the different committees with within rotary, different groups that you can work with. It's I mean, it's they have the peace groups, you have the ES Rags, it's so many different groups you can be involved with in Rotary. I mean, you if you can't find your niche in Rotary, you're not trying. Because there's so many.
SPEAKER_01:But can we define what a rotary action group is? Because again, I I don't think this is really defined and explained enough to the general Rotarian.
SPEAKER_02:It's a great point because I didn't really understand that as either. It's it's a it's a group of rotarians. I mean, in its simplest form, a rotary action group is a a group of rotarians with this that are aligned with a same with a common goal. Uh the ES Rag Committee is nationwide, worldwide actually, and there are different leaders uh in that, but again, it's a group of rotarians with a with a singular purpose. In this case, it's environmental. And environmental can go any down any number of different paths. As I said, it could be uh river cleanup, it could be uh coral reefs, it could be n plastic soups. I mean, that's where I first got involved with a rotary action group, it was uh was with the N plastic soup campaign done by uh that started with my friend Barbara McChesney out of the Windsor Rotary Club, and she spoke at the International Convention last year, and at the and she also spoke this this past week at the uh peace uh rotary peace conference in um in San Francisco. So it's there's so many different ways you can evolve again. And as I said, in the simplest form, it's a group of Rotarians with a singular purpose to to make the world better through the environment.
SPEAKER_01:And it doesn't require them like you can be in a club and still be part of a rotary action group. You don't have it's not it's not like joining another club, it's just joining a group of Rotarians that are very focused on that particular thing. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:So, Patrick, let me ask you this. The for for people who really want to uh have an impact in uh in the environment uh specifically, they're looking to say, how do we do things with, like I said, along the Colorado, along the Rio Grande, along any one of the you know, Sacramento River Delta, whatever whatever they want to do. The how challenging have you found, for instance, the element of trying to pull in um politicians and governmental agencies, whether at the local, at the county, or or higher levels in early to work with Rotary. Have you found have you found that Rotary is a door opener, or is that still a a challenge no matter who who's at the door?
SPEAKER_02:No, I I think Rotary is definitely a do is a door opener. I mean, Rotary's got such respect worldwide, locally, statewide, nationally. For the most part, it's it's a door opener. And they'll have that anyone who had that conversation with you and with in California, I've spoken to the Agricultural Commissioner, I've spoken to several different organizations locally. I think the easiest way in is locally through your own city or county governments. It's it's just such a door opener because most of a lot of times there's a Rotarian that's in that in that same role as well. So I mean it's Rotarians are global, so they're always they're always looking to have help. And I think the the biggest door opener is that someone wants to help. And if you go in and say, I'm a Rotarian, even if even if that agency doesn't have Rotarian on it, they'll everybody knows what Rotary is these days, as opposed to years ago it may not have been, is community action groups. I mean, it's it's what it is.
SPEAKER_01:And Rotary is incredibly powerful. A lot of times, um, as Rotarians, for example, we when we do um uh uh grants, global grants, um, you know, we often think, okay, that's a global grant for some other country outside of the United States, if we're a club located in the United States. But I know even in our own district, we are working on a global grant that is has to do with a community garden in Marietta that um where those dollars from around the world are going to come to assist this community garden in Marietta, California, be able to have the equipment and the structures and um the uh I think it was the what is it, the water.
SPEAKER_00:Irrigation.
SPEAKER_01:Irrigation, the word just went right out of my brain. Um irrigation, etc. And it's it's interesting, and that's just a little small club of about 20 people working together with our district and working with people around the world to create this wonderful community garden. So it I the reason I bring that up is it doesn't have to be something grandiose, it can be very small, but yet really bring in the resources from around the world.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Another great example of that is right in Marin County at Pegasus Gardens, uh, with Hidi Kune, who's a member of the San Francisco, San Francisco number one club, is as they like to say. The uh, but it's they're doing a whole rotary rotary garden and we're bringing in Rotarians and clubs from around the world to sponsor a garden at Pegasus Gardens. It's going to be the Peace Garden. Oh nice. And that's what uh and for those of you who don't know, Heidi Kune was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, and she went this year, but hopefully maybe next year. But I mean, she's on the forefront of roots of peace. I mean, so it so Rotarians are involved in so much globally, and we're doing so much good. And not I mean, if you you don't and you don't have to be a well-known person like Heidi, it can be someone a high school kid, it can be a college student, it can be you and me, anybody can have an impact in Rotary. You don't have to be the well-known person, you just have to have a passion for it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:So, Patrick, uh let me if I could um take a higher view on a more global perspective. How have you seen how how has your efforts been um over the past several decades been able to have an effect outside of the United States, let's say, with other areas that are finding um significant challenges towards their environmental uh the battle between the environment and the economy, uh, et cetera?
SPEAKER_02:I can give you a couple of uh recent examples. I'm working with a group in in Italy. Everybody who thinks Italy is on the forefront is doesn't have the problems of a lot of the other countries, but like most countries, they have they have their own set of problems. I'm working with a group called Cova Contra, which is cleaning up the environment in southern Italy down towards the heel of the boot. And I'm working with with local rotary clubs there. I mean, I start it started off as a personal initiative, and then as I always do when I do when I'm working in with an organization, whether it be in my private company or somewhere else, I always I always seek out rotary clubs because you you've always you've got a an audience here that understands the need. So we're doing some cleanup in in Italy, we're doing it in Africa, we're doing we're bringing water uh to places in in Nairobi, we're doing uh empowering women to have their own uh sustainability with with chickens in Kenya. So there's so many different things globally that I I found that is rewarding to me. Uh it's just fantastic the way Rotarians come together around or it's just increasing Rotarians increase the power of an individual exponentially.
SPEAKER_01:100%, 100%. As we uh wrap up this episode, first of all, thank you for for coming. Can you maybe give us the top three things that our listeners could do th in 2026 that will help our environment and get involved with the climate change and uh uh the environmental services?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. Number one is the end plastic soup. I mean, take a look go online, look for M plastic soup videos, there's a couple of them out there. But just from a personal standpoint, the easiest thing to do is stop using plastics. Use a refillable water bottle. Don't use the plastic. I mean, that's the easiest thing that anyone can do is to stop using plastic stop using these plastics. The plastics gets in your environment, it gets in your body. So that's number one. Number two is do a community garden. I mean, everything starts locally. I mean, from climate change, from sustainability from a food standpoint, it all starts locally. I mean, even starting your own community garden has an impact on the environment. So in you in reducing the carbon footprint, you're you're you're doing a lot for your local local, and then it just goes up downstream. So what you do locally has an impact on on the barrier reefs, it has an impact on the coral reefs. So it all you may not think that what you do in Chicago, for example, has an impact on coral reefs in Miami, but it does. The pollution has an impact. That's number two. And and number three is just work with your local Rotarian groups, collaborate with other clubs. It's we don't have to, you don't have to do this by yourself. Because I know that most major cities have at least four or five rotary clubs. And when you work together, because you may not, you may be a small club that only has 10 or 15 people, but next rotary club over may have 40 or 50 people. So work with them because everyone's looking for manpower. Work with other civil civic groups as well. Nice club, Lions Clubs, don't be afraid to go out and ask for help. Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:So you you bring up uh an interesting point. Are there local, I shouldn't say, are there regional meetings where clubs or districts, um environmental officers, can get together and learn from each other and find out, hey, what are you guys doing up in Reno? What are you doing up down in Tennessee? What are you doing in in Texas, et cetera? And come back almost like a mini zone or RI convention where they could bring information back and say, wow, I just I just sat with Patrick and this is what they're doing up in up in in Mammoth or Tahoe, et cetera.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I I think you're right. The the zone the zone institute's your district conferences are a great way to do that. And I know a lot of times I've spoken at other district conferences, um other than 5190, have gone in and spoken at other conferences and talked about what we do there. Uh the ES Rag is Rag is the best one. Yeah, ES RAG is the best one to get a hold of. But again, in the absence of that, if you don't want to get involved in ES Rag, just work with your district leadership to have a mini session at your next district conference. I mean, every every district conference, and they're coming up in June, in the May-June time frame now for most of us. Work on getting an environmental team in there and just having a roundtable discussion, if nothing else.
SPEAKER_00:Excellent. Excellent.
SPEAKER_01:Wonderful. Well, thank you, Patrick, for coming and joining us today. We look forward to sharing this with you, sharing this information with our audience, and and hopefully we can spread the word about um those that are have a passion for our environment can join with us at Rotary and with you and make a difference.
SPEAKER_00:And helping the environment and ecology. Thank you very much, Patrick.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope. We are so happy that we have an audience out there listening. We want you to subscribe, share, and tell your friends about the Rotary community, Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the word out about the impact we're having in this world.