Posted by Roger Lindley
Inspired by Kris Nordstrom McBride - A Rotary Moment selectively extracted from August 16, 2015 article in The Courier newspaper of Montgomery County.
 
The world’s oldest service organization, Rotary International, is not the world’s largest — that honor goes to our friends in the Lions Club, but our membership of 1.2 million dedicated men and women around the world is a pretty special deal. Rotary is a global organization of neighbors, friends, and community leaders who come together to create positive, lasting change in our communities and around the world. Within our clubs, we have members who are vastly different, people who, without Rotary, might never become friends. And then we have people who shake hands at a meeting and feel like they have just met a best friend, or the sister or brother they never had. Across the table we share a passion for service, regardless of religious or cultural beliefs; our diversity is part of our charm and definitely part of our formula for success.
 
Back to Membership Month. We all, including retirees, lead busy lives, and at times we all wonder why we are going to this fundraiser, or this work day, or even this meeting at 6:30 in the morning, or in the middle of my work day? The answer is simple, but not easy — because we should. We should give back to the communities that have been good to us, that have given us good neighbors and good friends. We should give to those who need help, across the street or across the world. Rotary works to put every dollar raised to good use, to make every hour volunteered worthwhile and meaningful. And we have a really good time doing it.
 
As President John Schorr said at our last CMIRC general meeting, as our club is presently lacking a Membership Committee Chair, John will temporarily assume that role BUT every member of the club should act as part of the committee and also think about stepping up to fill the role as Membership Chair. We are a small club with a high membership turnover rate, due to the transient nature of the local expat community. So, we can never become complacent about bringing new members into our club.