DG Dave speaks to club
District Governor Dave Patterson and his wife of 43 years, Pamela, joined our Club for lunch. Dave is a past president of the Palgrave Rotary club and is the current year's District Governor for our district 7080. He is a chartered accountant by profession with the Dundee private investment company. He and Pamela are the proud parents of Warren , a CA as well, and Natalie, a nurse.
Dave reminded us of the October 20, 2007 Rotary District conference being held in Orangeville featuring notable speakers, including Mr. James Orbinsky of Doctors without Borders and the Bramalea club's past District Governor, Terry Palmay.
Dave told us that ours was the 10th of the District's 52 clubs visited by him since he became DG .
This year's Rotary theme is "Rotary Shares". Dave suggested that Rotarians could participate in this by asking someone to become a Rotary member and by contributing to the Rotary foundation.
This year Rotary is emphasizing membership. Membership is up in Asia, but down in North America. Integration of new members into the club is as important as recruiting new members. 40 per cent of new Rotarians leave before their 5th anniversary. The top reasons for Rotarians leaving are conflicts with other members, and a failure to become integrated into the club.
Dave also spoke of the incredible need for the Rotary Foundation to play a part in the alleviation of poverty on the international scene. One person dies every second of poverty in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa 40 to 50 per cent of the population subsist on less than one dollar a day. 90 percent of the HIV cases in Africa get no treatment. Contributions by Rotarians to the Rotary foundation can help to alleviate this poverty. Rotarian John Mullen thanked the speaker.