Sunny Yates Kellerman, a Silver City resident, has just been named District Governor for Rotary International District 5520, which includes all the Rotary clubs in New Mexico as well as the Rotary Clubs in eight counties in West Texas. She will serve in this office until July of 2021.
As District Governor, Kellerman will communicate with and visit all 66 Rotary clubs in the District, supporting them in planning service projects and raising funds for those projects, developing new leadership, and promoting a District Conference.
She will also serve as the District’s liaison to the Rotary International organization. Kellerman succeeds Gary King of the Rotary Club of Moriarty.
Kellerman has been a Rotarian since 1997. She was a member of the Rotary Clubs in Petaluma and Healdsburg, California, before moving to Silver City in 2005 and joining the Silver City Club. She has chaired numerous committees for the Silver City Club including serving as its president in 2013-14 and as event manager for the 2012 and 2017 Rotary Auctions, which raised a combined total of $73,000 for Silver City civic projects and activities. She has also served as a host parent for Rotary exchange students from Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. On the District level, Kellerman’sactivities have included serving on the Rotary Youth Exchange Committee and as co-director for the Girl’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp that takes place each July at the Manzano Mountain Retreat.
Why is Kellerman willing to spend so much of her time on Rotary projects? “I think Rotary is one of humanity’s greatest hopes,” she says. “It has 1.2 million members in more countries and territories than are members of the United Nations. It’s like a world-wide family that is large enough to take on major endeavors.” For example, Rotary currently partners with the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, the Gates Foundation and International governments and agencies to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. ”We are this close,” she says, “and the effort will not abate until the job is done.” She says she especially appreciates that that Rotary allows individuals to leverage their time and money to make a huge difference in the world.”
Some of Kellerman’s favorite Silver City Rotary projects include building a labyrinth for the Gila Regional Medical Center courtyard, working with The Commons to build outdoor school garden classrooms at local elementary schools—providing benches, raised garden beds and lecterns, and planting trees—and, in partnership with three Rotary Clubs in Mexico, furnishing a library wing at the public school in Palomas, Mexico. She is also pleased that Rotary Auction proceeds have supported the Gila Valley Children’s Library, Literacy Link-Leamos, the Gospel Mission and many other local not-for-profit organizations.
Kellerman is married to Harry Kellerman, who spent 36 years with General Electric in Erie, PA, before retiring to Silver City.
Rotary is an organization of service-minded individuals united worldwide to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build good will and peace in the world. Rotary is the world’s oldest and largest service organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 167 countries. Rotary membership is open to people of all ages who share its core values of service, leadership, integrity and fellowship. To learn more, visit www.rotary.org or www.silvercityrotary.org.