Richard and Helen Close Golf Tournament at The Wilshire Country Club

Hosted by The Los Angeles Rotary Club Foundation, LA5 Rotary and Jared Smith On March 4, approximately 40 golfers (and some additional spectators) - composed of Rotarians and non-Rotarians - gathered on the hallowed greens of the Wilshire Country Club for a full day of fellowship in the best way. A full course of play offered plenty of opportunity for fun, engagement, and an opportunity to win a Tesla! Each golfer walked away with a brand new Calloway wedge inscribed with "LA5."

Quotes from members

"Many many thanks and congratulations on today's tournament, it was a gem. One can begin to appreciate the number of moving parts, the advanced planning and on site effort put in by Jared Smith and his team... Most of all, the opportunity to enjoy the day with friends, new and old, while advancing our cause of service made us all winners." - Past President Dave Meshulam

"We are so fortunate to have such generous sponsors supporting our foundation and such engaged members who are willing to put the time, sweat, and tears into making this event happen." - Chrissy Moses

"Thank you Jared and Bo for sticking your necks out there and taking on the responsibility to make this happen. I played horrible, but had a lot of fun. ...I want to thank the Rotarians that answered the call to make this happen and also additionally reached out to your associates for more support..." - Past President Ken Chong

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Scholarship committee involvement:

On March 4th 2020 the Rotary Club of Los Angeles (LA5) spent a day of fun at Wilshire Country Club to support the LA5 Scholarship fund. An array of sponsors, players and spectators raised funds to support this amazing organization's cause.

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Golf Tournament Sponsors:

On Course Beverage Sponsorship
Bo Lee and NFP - $5,000
Wilshire Country Club Host
Jared Smith and LA5 Golf Committee
Lunch Sponsorship - $5,000
Jared Smith
Trophy Sponsorship
Jared Smith and SCLSS - $5,000

Donors

Jared Smith - $2,000
John Green and Family - $1,000
Bo Lee and Family - $1,000

Hole Sponsor

Rick Gibson of Pepperdine - $1,500

Foursome Sponsor

Raymon James - $2,000

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Since 1970, the Rotary Club of Los Angeles (LA5) has given scholarships to high school students heading to college. In that first year, LA5 gave $3,000 to each deserving scholar. Ten years later, LA5 gave scholarships in the amount of $10,000. In 2020, LA5 plans to give $10,000 to twenty-five exceptional students graduating from schools located within Los Angeles County.

The large increase in funding available for scholarships is due in part to the generosity of former members of the Club who endowed the scholarship program with generous gifts. The first LA5 Rotarian to do so was Richard Close, who contributed $3,000,000 toward funding future scholars. Other Rotarians followed their lead, funding the foundation to what it is today. The Kirk family, Coppersmith family, Barr family, and the Walch family all made significant contributions.

Each year, LA5 receives over 150 applications from some of the best and brightest high school seniors around Los Angeles. We award scholarships to underprivileged students to assist them toward achieving a college undergraduate degree. These are students who are often the first in their family to attend college, many live near the federal poverty line and live in tough and underserved neighborhoods. All of our scholars demonstrate a commitment to community service and share compelling stories with us about overcoming adversity. All of the scholars are naturally gifted and motivated to succeed. Typically, scholars maintained an unweighted high school GPA between 3.7 and 4.0 and had SAT scores above 1450. LA5 scholars attend many of the country’s most prestigious universities, including, Brown, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford, Wellesley, and USC, among others.

Scholarships are given to the students directly; and they can use the fund in whatever way they see fit. We find that our scholars use the money we award to help with many necessities and expenses others take for granted. For example, scholars routinely report back that they used their scholarship to help with winter clothing, textbooks, laptop computers, and airline tickets to visit their families in Los Angeles.

In 2019, for the first time, a former LA5-scholar joined the Club as a member. We expect more will follow in the coming years.

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