Club News
SYLC 2015 - 2016 Year Review
Within a year our Seoul Young Leaders Club has accomplished so much! So far we’ve organized and coordinated:
- 6 service projects;
- 6 fundraising projects and;
- 3 professional & programming events
Through what we’ve done, we’ve been able to:
- Fundraise 7,484,000 KRW in total, of which 6,626,010 KRW was donated to charity to serve others in line with Rotary International’s Six Areas of Focus:
- In addition we have been able to:
- Give two promising South Korean high school students the opportunity to travel to the United States for a 1 month youth exchange program, all expenses paid, through our club’s marketing and promotional activities of the Ottenheimer International Youth Program and;
- Donate 4 full boxes of women's clothes to Sacred Heart (성심모자원) a center for single/homeless mothers with children in collaboration with District Gal Shop & Swap event (5/1/2016);
That’s not even all of the good work that we’ve done...if you may have missed out on what we have done in the first half of this fiscal year, I invite you to read our 2015 - ‘16 Half Year Review.
In addition to working to serve the community through our club’s events and projects we also participate in friendship and fellowship events with both local and international Rotaracts and Rotarians, support Seoul Rotary Club (our motherclub) and the Rotary International District (RID) that we are a part of, RID 3650.
Fellowship Gatherings have included:
District 3650 events that we have participated included both District Conferences that were held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel:
Where is SYLC Now & What’s Next for SYLC - #BetterSeoul
You may have not heard about our club’s current project, #BetterSeoul, but our club is currently working to serve and partner with Open House (오픈하우스), a women’s center located in Geumcheon District of Seoul that is dedicated to helping disadvantaged mothers with children. The 4-5 month process in how we came to this point is in my opinion the most impressive part of this project so far:
- First, we asked Seoul citizens to tell us what they thought were the largest problems in Seoul through our past events (e.g: having a board where attendees at our Mexican 맛집 fundraiser could place stickers) and this video:
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Video edited by Harry Kim, SYLC Vice President & Membership Chair; Video Starring Jeehee Oh, SYLC Community Service Co-Chair
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We posted the video on March 13th for about 3 weeks to hype up the campaign. We were able to have an article written about the project in The Seoul Times:
- Second, we analyzed the results of our public survey and discussed which of Rotary’s Areas of Focus had the most votes/comments. It turned out that Saving Mothers & Children was the most popular category. We discussed these results at our club meeting in April 2016: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/12259/Stories/betterseoul
- Our community service chair (Ben Kim) then researched a couple of different centers in Seoul that focus on helping mothers and children - Ben Kim then led groups of our members to visit both centers to talk to the owners there to see what impact we can have:
- Open House
- 애란원
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- Open House
- At our last SYLC general meeting (5/1) we discussed the results of both meetings (with Open House and 애란원) and voted to help and develop service projects with Open House since our members felt that we could have the biggest impact if we voted to help it.
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- Ben Kim then led a group of our members to Open House again on May 14th, 2016 to discuss how exactly we can serve the center and its single mothers. Based on our discussions with the mothers and center director we found they need our club’s help in the following:
- 1) Babysitting once per month for the next three months
- The mothers at the center need to take a professional parenting class so they may learn how to be better mothers. The purpose of the center is to help the mothers become self-sufficient, independent, and more importantly, successful parents, but if nobody is there to watch the mother’s children, then they cannot leave the center to take class.
- 2) Host a “Shopping Day” for the mothers and their children (aged 1-2)
- All of the mothers voiced their concerns about not having enough clothes for their growing babies so they would like our SYLC to host a “Shopping Day” at a nearby HomePlus so we can help them shop for children’s clothes.
- It is anticipated that this will cost around 750,000 KRW (150,000 KRW per child [5 children]).
- In addition, we hope to take the mothers and center workers to eat after/before the “Shopping Day”, it is anticipated this will cost around 210,000 KRW (30,000 KRW x 7 - 5 mothers plus 2 center workers)
- 3) Develop a Volunteer Platform that connects volunteer babysitters to Open House and Open House “alumni”
- The mothers that are forced to leave Open House (once children are older than 2, they are asked to move from Open House) have difficulty becoming self-sufficient because they cannot afford babysitters. Mothers need to go out and work part time jobs or take classes to further their professional development, but without a volunteer or someone to watch the child, they are unable to do so.
- Our SYLC is discussing the possibility of developing a platform that connects those that want to volunteer their time/service to volunteer to Open House’s mothers. It would be the responsibility of Open House to make sure these volunteers are suitable to volunteer/babysit. Our platform we design would be meant to attract volunteers to Open House.
- 4) Host classes for both mothers at Open House and their children
- For mothers, classes would be about “Financial & Budget Planning”, otherwise finances for every-day use.
- For babies, classes would be “Early Education and Development” centered.
- Two of our SYLC members, Shan and Matthew Hinshaw
- 5) Donate funds to have mothers attend/undergo “Psychological Class” - 1.2 million KRW
- Even though Seoul City sponsors the center to have the mothers undergo psychological evaluation, the results do not get shared with the center director. This is a problem for the center director because she cannot really fully understand each of the mothers.
- The center director requested our club to help her send the mothers to a professional psychologist for three sessions so he can receive the results. The results would help the current director better serve the mothers as she can understand them from a professional psychologist's point of view.
- 6) Creating a Marketing video & Mobile-friendly/new website for Open House
- The center has a problem of being small, not well known, and being located in a non-central part of Seoul. Considering this we are thinking of producing a marketing video to help the center gain exposure and become recognized.
- 7) Help one of the center moms pass the Korean high school equivalency test
- One of Open House’s moms expressed interest and concern in passing the country’s high school equivalency exam so our members hope they can help her pass it.
- Our club members will discuss in detail how we will tackle and address all of these potential project opportunities to assist Open House at our next meeting on June 11th - please email us if you might be interested in attending as a guest: rotarysylc@gmail.com
On a closing note, as I transition from SYLC’s President (FY 2015-’16) to IPP (Immediate Past President), I hope that our club's next president can build upon the great work our club members have done so far and continue to move forward with our current #BetterSeoul project with Open House. While our commitment for this project is likely around 2 to 5 months I hope the next president can successfully finish #BetterSeoul and also guide the club to its next big service project in which we all aim to make a lasting impact on the community.
My advice for the next SYLC president is to:
- Always listen to member’s feedback and criticisms;
- Be flexible and open to new ideas;
- Try to guide the club in a democratic sense by always remembering to vote on issues openly at club meetings - try not to make key decisions that have not been voted on prior outside of club meetings;
- In line with the last point, it is the president’s job to facilitate discussion for meaningful action/results. It is your job to be the key facilitator during meetings to guide member’s discussions and opinions towards actionable and meaningful results.
On a closing note, I can say it has been an honor and privilege serving this club and its many talented/passionate members. I sincerely hope that if the right opportunity arises I look forward to serving this club and its members as a supporting committee chair where I can focus my efforts on a committee that has been lacking in programs and initiatives to strengthen that aspect of the club.
As our club members know, we have five committees - these five committees serve as the club's "legs" if you will, legs that support the club. Without active committee chairs and co-chairs the club will fail as the president and vice presidents support the work of each committee while also leading their own independent projects as well:
- Membership
- Keeping updated records of membership (via www.SeoulRotary.com)
- Developing programs and initiatives that maintain and increase club membership
- Fundraising
- Organize one event per 2-3 months; larger project planning may require longer periods of time in which the 2-3 month limit can be negotiated
- Community Service
- Ensure that club member's ideas for relevant community service projects are carried out
- Programming & Professional Development
- Organize one event per 2-3 months; larger project planning may require longer periods of time in which the 2-3 month limit can be negotiated
- Marketing & Public Relations
- Responsible for managing club's social media & for spreading the word about the club's events, programs, and projects
- Goal is to have as many news/media articles as possible that are relevant to what the club is working to accomplish
For any non-SYLC or non-Rotary members reading this - if you are passionate about serving your community and the city you’re living in then I highly recommend you to apply to our club - APPLY FOR SYLC.
Sincerely,
Raymond Chetti
SYLC President 2015-’16
It is with my honor to introduce our Seoul Young Leaders Club (SYLC), the first young professionals Rotary club in South Korea that is a satellite club of South Korea’s first club, Seoul Rotary Club.
Within the past six months our club has been active we have already been able to made strides towards becoming one of the world’s top young professionals Rotary clubs that is synonymous with service, fundraising, and professional development.
We grew membership to over 30 members, participated in over 10 fundraising and service projects and fundraised 6 million KRW for our club’s fundraising projects and other charities that are working to make our world a better place. Our last fundraising project even made South Korea’s national news on Korean Broadcasting Station (KBS)!
Service
Our past service projects have mostly been on the local level where we’ve helped feed the homeless, building homes for low income families, and more.
Our first service project was at Seoul City’s homeless shelter (따스한 채움터) where we helped prepare meals for almost 200 homeless (June 2015).
Our next service project took us to Jinju where we participated with Habitat for Humanity team members to help build affordable housing for low-income families (October 2015).
Shortly after we headed to a Seoul City rehabilitation center in Eunpyeong District (서울특별시립은평의마을) where we helped stock and sort several hundred books and clean the facilities (October 2015).
Our most recent service project we headed to Empathy for Life (생명공감), an animal shelter in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province where we helped care for shelter animals and clean the facilities (December 2015).
In addition to conducting our own service projects we also participated in several other service projects with both Seoul Rotary Club and District 3650.
Our SYLC members participated alongside with Seoul Rotary Club members and other District 3650 Rotarians in the second annual Kimchi Making and Sharing Festival that was organized by Seoul City (November 2015).
Fundraising
Unlike our club’s service projects which had more of a local impact, our fundraising projects have been more diverse in nature and have had positive international impacts.
We co-hosted a charity rock concert with Samdong International at Club Freebird in Hongdae that raised 1.2 million KR for the Xienkhouang-Samdong Friendship School’s library in Saylome Village, Laos (August 2015). The funds we raised helped stock the library with books that are meant for children. The left photo shows our club members, while the right shows children at the school in Laos.
For one of our largest events, the Seoul Art Fair, SYLC Charity Art Fair, we raised almost 3 million KRW, of which 50% was donated to local artists (1.5million KRW), 500,000 KRW was donated to We Start’s Blue Bird Volunteer Program, and 200,000 KRW was donated to Minsana’s efforts to feed starving North Korean children. Our club was able to fundraise almost 350,000 KRW for our future service projects (November 2015).
Our most recent project involved a free screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens where we fundraised 1.8 million KRW; 50% was donated to Doctors Without Borders ( 국경없는 의사회) while the other 50% came to our club for future club service projects (December 2015).
Professional Development
We aim to develop the next generation of Rotarian leaders. In doing so, we hope to inspire and develop our members’ skills and knowledge.
We’ve hosted prominent professionals to give talks and presentation to our members about their dedication to service. We’ve hosted Prof. Hyunsik Chang, the immediate past Vice President of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Mr. Ha Kyung Choi, President of both the Senior Public Diplomacy Group and Korean Traditional Culture Agency.
Looking Forward to a “Service Project-Focused” 2016
Our first six months was a testing ground for what we were capable of and what we want to do moving forward. We’ve come to learn and grow as a team that we’re passionate, hardworking, and energetic. Anything is possible with our young professionals members.
While there are 5 to 6 months until the Rotary International Seoul Convention in Ilsan KINTEX, we hope to spend the remaining months of FY2015 - 2016 to focus our efforts on a specific problem in Seoul and work to make a real impact on it for the better.
Our team is in the process of evaluating project ideas, but we are looking to perform a community assessment as per Rotary International’s Community Assessment Tools, for Baeksa Village (백사마을), in Nowon District of Seoul. The main argument in looking to target Baeksa Village for our future service and fundraising projects is because of its high senior population that is currently living with poor conditions. Over the past few months our club members have identified and agreed that there is a problem with growing old in South Korea where more and more seniors are aging alone and suffering by living with under average standard of living conditions.
We look forward to an exciting 2016 where we hope to implement real, impactful projects that are in line with Rotary’s six areas of focus to improve the lives of those living in Baeksa Village.
To take a look at what else we’ve done please LIKE and FOLLOW us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seoulrotaryclubyoungleadersclub/
If you might be interested in being a part of helping the elderly living in Baeksa Village, please do not hesitate to contact SYLC President, Raymond Chetti as soon as possible as we are looking to implement projects before the Rotary International Seoul Convention (raychetti@gmail.com).
Seoul Times - Seoul Young Leaders Club (SYLC) Launches "Better Seoul" to Improve Capital of S. Korea
National
Seoul Young Leaders Club (SYLC) Launches "Better Seoul" to Improve Capital of S. Korea
The Drive Driven by SYLC President Raymond Chetti
The Drive Driven by SYLC President Raymond Chetti
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| SYLC event |
The Seoul Young Leaders Club (SYLC) is asking for Seoul citizens’ feedback on how they can help improve Seoul so they can develop a service project that addresses the most commonly mentioned problem.
After reviewing all feedback at their meeting on Sunday, April 3 at 5 p.m., the club hopes to collaborate with other Rotary clubs within Rotary Districts 3650 and 3640 in addition to other stakeholders, both public and private, to develop a community service project that would address the problem that was most commonly mentioned.
The deadline to submit feedback is March 31, 2016 so be sure to submit your comment quickly.
The club hopes to implement a service project addresses one of Rotary International’s Six Areas of Focus that include promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving mothers and
children, support education, and growing local economies.
About The Seoul Young Leaders Club (SYLC)
The Seoul Young Leaders Club was formed in June 2015 as a satellite club of the Seoul Rotary Club, the only English speaking Rotary Club of Rotary International that was founded in 1927.
The Seoul Young Leaders Club’s mission is to recruit and maintain young, likeminded, service-oriented community leaders who are between the ages of 18 and 35 years to enhance the quality of life of not only its members, but those we serve on both a local and global scale.
The club aims to forge lifelong friendships amongst each other and live by the Rotarian Principles of the FourWay Test.
About Rotary International
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteers dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges.
Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and regions.
Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a poliofree
world.
For more information, visit Rotary.org .
Contacts :
English: Raymond Chetti, SYLC President (raychetti@gmail.com ); Korean: Ben Kim, SYLC Community Service Chair (20mrben@gmail.com )
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