Welcome to the new Rotary year. In our first newsletter we will be hearing about several district committees who are here to support the clubs. We have a dedicated group of Rotarians in the district who are here to help. We are traveling through a lot of uncharted territory this year. Keeping our great organization moving forward without the normal meetings and events will not be easy. This year, more than any time in the past, sharing ideas and communication is vital to the clubs and the members. The District team is working hard to keep us and the community informed about what Rotary is doing, and to ensure ideas are spread and successes recognized. They are here to help make all the clubs stronger.
Although I have not started my “official” club visits yet, Zoom meetings have allowed me to pop in on several of the clubs. The energy and enthusiasm from all the clubs is overwhelming. The list of projects is endless. They include school supplies for underserved children, shoe drives, from virtual fund raising, delivering food to those who cannot get out, providing face masks to trying to impact the homeless situation and many, many others. It is clear, the clubs are not letting Covid interfere with our good work.
Looking ahead, August is Rotary Membership and New Club Development month. Membership is key to the success of Rotary. In order to help with membership, the District is having a Membership seminar on August 15th. This online seminar will help clubs develop skills in how to get and retain members, ways to make meetings interesting and ideas to make meeting meaningful and fun.
And speaking of membership, we are partnering with Toastmasters. They are enthusiastic about having Rotarians visit their meetings and I hope you will reach out to invite them to yours. We hope this will lead to additional members for both groups.
Flexibility has been the mantra for our year, and RI has shown how they can be flexible . When the Covid pandemic began, they knew help would be needed around the world. They immediately authorized a process to get funding quickly to clubs around the world. A few of our clubs took advantage of this opportunity and it resulted in our district receiving funds for medical equipment, supplies and to improve our Rotacare program. It shows how Rotary can help not only across the globe, but in our own communities.
Exciting News! RI has added a seventh area of focus for Global Grants. The Environment has been added as an area of focus. This decision has been a long time coming. Many grants touched on environmental issues, and now we can do grants in which the environment is the main objective. Several clubs have committees dedicated to the environment and this is a great fit for them.
Thanks for all you do, keep up the great work and stay healthy.
Gregg
