The Weekly Meeting Summary of the Rotary Club of Livermore Valley
February 17, 2026
Lori Souza, Editor
OPENING THE MEETING
President Sarah Palmer called the meeting to order at 8:15 AM
Pledge of Allegiance - Charles Crohare
Four Way Test - Bryan Hernandez
Thought of the Day - Melanie Henry
Joke of the Day - Melanie Henry
VISITING ROTARIANS & GUESTS
Visiting Rotarians:
Bob Tucknott, introduced by Charles Crohare, is from the Dublin Club in the classification of Electrical Contractor
Kathy Young, introduced by Mony Nop, is from the Rotary Club of Livermore and is the CEO of the Tri-Valley Non-Profit Alliance
Guests:
Alex Vega, Bryan Hernandez and Brook Witherspoon
January STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Principal Clark Conover from Granada High School introduced Marin Lnenicka as the January Student of the Month. She is an athlete and scholar with a GPA of 3.6. She is successfully completing both honors, and AP. course work. She is recognized for her work ethic as one of her greatest strengths. She has a reputation for being kind, hardworking and honest. Marin is a very determined student both in the classroom and on the field. She is serving as the team captain of Granada's Flag Football team. Marin has been awarded the 49's' all around player of the year and was the defensive player of the year named by the San Francisco Chronicle. Marin is a collaborator, leads by example and is very coachable. She serves the community, as well with efforts at Kids against Hunger, and coaching youth soccer in the East Bay. Her aspirations are to attend college in Tennessee with a recent scholarship she was awarded for Flag Football.
February STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Principal Clark Conover from Granada High School introduced Christopher Pratte as the February Student of the Month. Christopher is a stand out athlete and has earned a 4.47 GPA. He is bilingual and is proud of his Argentinian heritage. Christopher is an excellent student as well as responsible and kind. His advisors describe him as having a good sense of humor and dedicated to excellence. Soccer is his sport and he is a part of the Ballistic Soccer club. He has played on Granada's Varsity Soccer team for all 4 years. With his leadership Granada won the NCS championship. Christopher has logged over 1800 hours of community service. He’s coached soccer over seas and plans to attend Las Positas College next year where he will continue to play soccer and then transfer to a university.
TODAY'S PROGRAM: Tri-Valley Non-Profit Alliance
Today's Program was presented by Kathy Young, the CEO and Co-Founder of the Tri-Valley Non-Profit Alliance. The TVNPA has expanded to over 500 non-profits. It facilitates cooperation among non-profits, businesses, and municipalities. Prior to joining the TVNPA, Kathy had 13 years of experience leading the Hertz Foundation.
Kathy shared with us her personal journey early in her life that was challenging as a young single Mother. It was a difficult start in life and she relied on non-profit help for child care. She appreciated having her “village” of support as a single Mom.
Today, Kathy leads the TVNPA as it helps people connect to services and strengthens the services for sustainability. Non-profits are essential for our infrastructure. They hold a lot of people up. These critical services hold the community together and keeps the community stable. There are 1.9 million non-profits in the US that create 1.8M jobs. In CA there are greater than 30,000 non-profits. They prevent crisis, and directly support our seniors, youth, and the disabled.
The TVNPA recognizes that non-profits struggle because they don’t have stability or stable resources. The TVNPA offers that. They make connections to other non-profits and education.
The Tri-Valley region is seen as affluent, but many of our neighbors struggle. The TVNPA has 5 pillars:
Community Educational Programs
Round Table for non-profits (The ED Roundtable)
Matching Grant Program ($100k+ each year to the community)
Common Point Non-Profit Center (co-working space, conference room, 25 tenants)
Anti-Poverty Collaborative
Please join the TVNPA for the 5 Mayors Summit (March) the Service Fair (August) and the Power of Giving Celebration (November)
TODAY'S 10-SPOT
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Check out the "Upcoming Events" listed below for complete details and sign-up information for upcoming club happenings!
Upcoming Events
Dinner with Residents of Goodness Village
Mar. 04, 2026 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
You're invited to get to know residents of Goodness Village by participating in a special dinner, catered by Marty's Joint Food Truck, on Wednesday, March 4 from 5:30 - 7:00.
No cost to you, but your registration is needed so that we know we have enough Rotarians joining the event. We have room for a maximum of 10 people!
Please join us for Trivia Night at 3 Steves Winery to support Marylin Avenue STEAM Academy's 5th grade camp fund. Proceeds help underprivileged students attend outdoor education camp.
Tickets are $25 per adult; $5 per child, or $100 for a table of 6. Purchase tickets here
A portion of wine and food sales will also go to support the fund, and there will be an incredible RAFFLE too!
Mony Nop is proposing Bryan Hernandez as a new member of our club, in the Classification of Warehouse Operations.
All paperwork has been submitted, and through an email vote at the beginning of February, our board voted unanimously to approve the proposal. Per our Bylaws, this information is being published for the second time this week in The Grapevine. If any club member has a question about the proposal, please contact Membership Chair Bennie Le Bourvellec. If no objections are received by February 23, we will move forward with installing Bryan as a new member!
Mony Nop is proposing Alex Vega as a new member of our club, in the Classification of Business Owner.
All paperwork has been submitted, and through an email vote at the beginning of February, our board voted unanimously to approve the proposal. Per our Bylaws, this information is being published for the second time this week in The Grapevine. If any club member has a question about the proposal, please contact Membership Chair Bennie Le Bourvellec. If no objections are received by February 23, we will move forward with installing Alex as a new member!
Goodness Village
