Robert Foster Shaves Beard for Charity

“Hello Children – I’m your father, Rotarian Robert Foster…”

On September 6th Oxnard Rotarian Robert Foster with those words Foster greeted his children. He had to identify himself to his own kinds because had had just with after he shaved off his beard at the club’s weekly luncheon meeting. A beard he had worn for the past 30 years.

Neither his wife, children, nor grandchildren had ever seen him clean-shaven. His wife joined their children for the big unveiling.

Foster – a member of Rotary International since 1983 and a participant in the Oxnard club since 1989 announced in August that he would shave his beard at the first Rotary meeting after Labor Day, provided he could get at least $1,000 in donations to buy supply packs for the Medical Reserve Corps.

His announcement generated a lot of excitement…and a lot of checks. Money has been collected through the Rotary club of Oxnard, as well as from members of five other area clubs in Oxnard, Ventura and Camarillo.

These funds are all earmarked to provide emergency supply backpacks for emergency medical volunteers. “I see this as a golden opportunity to strengthen local medical providers’ ability to respond to emergencies like disasters or terrorist events,” says Foster.

Foster started the process several months ago after hearing a report by Lance Orozco on KCLU describing the Medical Reserve Corps. “These folks are a community-based network of volunteers set up to assist public health efforts in times of special need or disaster” he explains.
Members of an MRC typically volunteer their time throughout the year in order to promote community public health and education. “To be effective during an emergency, volunteers must be organized and trained to work in emergency situations. The MRC provides organizational structure and trains those volunteers based on our community’s needs and vulnerabilities.”

Recognizing that many volunteers showing up empty-handed become a drain on supplies, standard supply packs were developed in a one-year effort by Direct Relief International of Santa Barbara.

Foster saw there weren’t enough local funds to pay for the packs needed in the Oxnard area and figured it was a perfect opportunity for Rotary to step up to the plate.

“Like any non-profit organization, MRC has needs that they rely on concerned members of the community to help fulfill. I saw this as an easy way to fill in the small pieces by purchasing a few packs here, a few packs there as funds permitted. And it’s the sort of effort that any Rotary club can get involved with anywhere in the world.”
Having seen how much interest his presentations generated at other clubs, Foster’s intent now is to take this campaign statewide and beyond.

“Talk about a win-win situation” he says. “That’s why I’m doing what I can to put some additional money into their hands. I want to help them be as prepared as possible for that inevitable day when we need them to help us.”

“Here’s what it all comes down to,” Foster figures. “Direct Relief International delivers nearly $25 in medical aid for every $1 it receives. I call that a pretty good return on investment by anybody’s standards.” All the money and benefits raised from Foster’s event will be returned to the immediate community.