Rotary Club of Menlo Park

10/27/2026

🌍 This Week at Menlo Park Rotary: Making a Difference in Africa!

Join us this Wednesday as we welcome Paulette Nonga Ongla, President and CEO of SAYAP AFRICA, a nonprofit working to empower communities across Africa through sustainable, community-driven solutions.

We’ll hear about the organization’s work and how collective action can create lasting change.

We’ll also get to know one of our newest Rotary members, Irene, who will share her story with us!

📅 Wednesday, October 28
🕧 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park

Everyone is welcome! You don’t have to be a Rotary member to join us. Come enjoy lunch, meet some great people, and learn about the work being done to make a difference around the world.

We’d love to see you there!

10/19/2026

🌟 Great Leadership Starts with Actions, Not Just Words!

What makes a great leader? And how do we turn organizational values into everyday behaviors?

Join the Rotary Club of Menlo Park this Wednesday as we welcome Isa Karabed, a leadership development expert with nearly two decades of experience helping individuals and organizations bring out their best.

💡 As Isa puts it, “Culture is not what an organization says it stands for, but what its people do every day.”

Whether you’re leading a team, running a business, or simply looking to grow as a leader, this promises to be an insightful and inspiring conversation!

📅 Wednesday, October 21, 2026
🕛 12:15–1:30 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild
75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park, CA

🤝 Guests are always welcome! Come connect with local leaders, enjoy great conversations, and discover what Rotary is all about.

10/12/2026

Join us this Wednesday as the Rotary Club of Menlo Park welcomes Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America!

Hear about Oxfam’s work with communities around the world to tackle poverty, hunger, and inequality through long-term development, crisis response, and advocacy.

📅 Wednesday, October 14
🕒 12:15 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park

Visitors are welcome! Come for lunch, meet our members, and enjoy the conversation.

If you’d like to support our local service projects, bring clean, gently used coats, hats, scarves, or gloves for the Ravenswood Coat Drive, or canned goods for our Interactors’ Food Drive.

10/11/2026

Our very own club member and District Governor made it into the Rotary International magazine!

Start small.
That’s the fitness advice from YuHui Chen, a fitness expert and member of the Rotary Club of Menlo Park, California. Helping people recover from injuries or surgeries and regain their mobility is the most rewarding part of YuHui's work.
“Many people fail because their initial goal was too ambitious,” she says. “Start with something achievable and focus on building a habit.”
Helping people recover from injuries or surgeries and regain their mobility is the most rewarding part of YuHui's work.

09/28/2026

🌎 This Wednesday at Rotary: Engineers Without Borders

You’ve heard of Doctors Without Borders — but have you met Engineers Without Borders?

This week, we’re excited to welcome the Stanford University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders to Rotary Club of Menlo Park.

The students will share their work with the community of Peltetec, Ecuador, where an aging water system puts reliable access to water at risk. They’ve already traveled to Peltetec to understand the challenges firsthand and are now working to fund and build a lasting solution.

It’s a great example of Service Above Self in action — using skills, collaboration, and relationships across borders to make a real difference.

🧥 We’re also collecting winter clothing for the Ravenswood community. Please bring gently used, clean coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. A small contribution can make a meaningful difference this winter.

Guests are always welcome! If you’re curious about Rotary, this is a great meeting to join us, meet our members, and learn more about the work happening locally and around the world.

📅 Wednesday, Sept 30
📍 Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park
🕛 12:00 PM

We hope to see you there!

09/22/2026

What happens when a 100-year-old Rotary club decides to rethink relevance?

Faced with declining membership, the Rotary Club of Wellington (RCW) listened to its members, changed the club experience and found new ways to connect with its community. The result? Growth from 58 to 91 members in just 12 months – plus a new literacy-focused satellite club.

Their message is simple: if Rotary wants to grow, relevance isn’t optional.

Catch all the details here: https://bit.ly/RDU-NEW

09/21/2026

🎨 Join us this Wednesday at the Rotary Club of Menlo Park!

This week, we’re excited to welcome Art in Action, an organization that brings engaging art education into classrooms while helping students explore culture and connect art with core academic subjects.

We’ll also put service into action, preparing materials for student art lessons and assembling them into ready-to-use classroom packages.

📅 Wednesday, September 23
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park

You don’t need to be a Rotary member to join us. Come meet our members, learn more about Art in Action, and see what Rotary is all about. We’d love to have you!

And then on Saturday, September 26, it’s time for one of our biggest events of the year: Tour de Menlo! 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️

A great week of service, connection, and community.

09/14/2026

🧠 Why do we keep investing time, money, and effort into something—even when we know it may be time to walk away?

This Wednesday, the Rotary Club of Menlo Park welcomes Neir Eshel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, for a fascinating conversation about sunk costs, dopamine, and the science behind our decision-making.

From Ahab chasing Moby Dick to Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner, we humans—and apparently other animals too—have a hard time walking away from something once we’ve invested in it. Dr. Eshel will help us understand why.

📅 Wednesday, September 16
🕛 12:00 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Rd, Menlo Park

Guests are always welcome! Join us for lunch, great conversation, and an opportunity to meet members of the Rotary Club of Menlo Park.

09/07/2026

🔬 This Week at the Rotary Club of Menlo Park: How Cells Trigger Inflammation

Join us this Wednesday, September 9, as we welcome Phyllis Wang and Peter Dahlberg from the Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM Center.

They’ll share fascinating new research that, for the first time, captured the formation of an immune signaling complex inside intact human cells. Using cryo-electron tomography, researchers can create remarkably detailed 3D views of molecular structures inside cells—helping us better understand how inflammation is triggered.

It should be a fascinating look at cutting-edge science happening right here in our community.

Guests are always welcome! If you’re curious about the topic—or about Rotary—we’d love to have you join us for lunch and meet our members.

📅 Wednesday, September 9
⏰ 12:00–1:30 PM
📍 Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Rd, Menlo Park

09/07/2026

🚴 Tour de Menlo 2026 is almost here!

On Saturday, September 26, cyclists from across the Bay Area will hit the road for one of Menlo Park Rotary’s favorite traditions — the Tour de Menlo.

Whether you’re an experienced cyclist or looking for a fun ride with the family, there’s a route for you:

🚴 65 miles
🚴 43 miles
🚴 33 miles
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 11-mile Family Ride

And the best part: every mile supports a great cause. Proceeds from the Tour de Menlo fund need-based college scholarships for local high school students — many of whom will be the first in their families to attend college. Menlo Rotary awards approximately $150,000 in scholarships each year. (Tour de Menlo)

Come ride with us, enjoy some beautiful Peninsula roads, and help open doors for the next generation of local students.

📅 Saturday, September 26, 2026
📍 Menlo Park
🚴 Routes for all levels
🍽️ Rest stops, SAG support & lunch included

Early registration pricing ends September 13, so now is a great time to sign up!

👉 Register and learn more at Tour de Menlo: https://www.tourdemenlo.com

Make plans now to ride Tour de Menlo, which offers three Peninsula routes for cyclists of all abilities, plus an additional family route! Riders have their choice of 33-, 43- and 65-mile routes, plus the family ride, all well-marked and beginning and ending at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da...