August is Rotary's Membership and New Club Development Month
Monday August 21, 2023
Distribution: All Active & Honorary Members, Council of Governors, District Admin
Good morning, Rotarians!
As the summer draws to an end and vacations for students and adults end, the time has come for Rotary Clubs to get into high gear. Your district leaders are busy planning the annual Fall training event, club visits, membership events and other activities that help make Rotary a great organization. By this time your club should have some service projects planned and perhaps scheduled some meeting speakers who will help motivate your club to be all it can be.
On a personal note, I have been thinking a lot about how much I enjoyed visiting clubs last year, learning what your clubs were doing and seeing the amount of enthusiasm that all our members possessed. I was talking to DG Mary this week and she shared that she is really enjoying and really impressed by the same. Because our clubs work so independently and we as a district work hard at not getting in the way, many of our district leaders are not always aware of all our clubs do. I encourage all of you reading this to visit a different club this week and see who they are and what they do. You might want to invite one of your clubs' non-readers of the 411 to go along .
Catch the fever of Rotary!
Yours in Rotary Service,
PDG Bill
Important Information:
- Update your Club officers for 2023-24, and please include phone numbers and email addresses. Finalize your goals and plans to Create Hope in the World, because without 2023-24 Goals in My Rotary, your club cannot participate in District and Global grants. Also, please review your club webpage and social media with the new 2023-24 theme logos
- Planning a summer or fall event? RILEE-Rotary Iron Lung Education Exhibit, is a collaborative project between Rotary Districts 6440, 6420 and 6450, to bring polio education to our communities. For a nominal sum you can reserve RILEE for your club events and you can reserve up to a year ahead of time. Bring our Polio Story to your summer event! To learn more about RILEE, click here, and to reserve RILEE for your club event, click Reserve RILEE
- After a long pause due to Covid, our District has restarted Rotary Youth Exchange. We have kicked off our program with two inbound students, one outbound student, and one short-term summer exchange. While the numbers are far smaller than what we have done in the past, it is a start. But now is the time start the rebuilding process within your clubs. Please review the email sent out this week by District Youth Exchange Chair Rebecca Dunleavy.
- Speaking of Youth Exchange - Does your club stay in touch with former exchange students? We'd like to plan some type of reunion event with those who are still in our area. Please email Marlene Frisbie, gov.marlene@rotary6440.org, with any information.
- Please post your club events such as service projects and fundraisers to the District 6440 Calendar, so the word gets out! (Let us know if you need help posting)
- Here is the Leadership calendar for 2023-24, with all scheduled committee meetings. These can also be found on the District calendar. There will be quarterly meetings for Club leaders to share ideas and projects. Zoom in if you can!
> We are putting together a group of D6440 Rotarians who love RI conventions! If you have been to a convention or think you might be interested in attending, please let me know. The group will help with promoting the Singapore Convention which is May 25-29, 2024. By the way, registration for the 2024 Singapore Convention can be found here, discount pricing is available.
Celebrate Community: https://www.rotary.org/en/kiwanis-lions-optimist-rotary-join-week-service-celebrate-community - start planning now!
World Polio Day- October 24: what are your clubs doing? https://www.endpolio.org/world-polio-day#:~:text=24%20October,to%20end%20polio%20for%20good.
August is membership month: Our District membership chair is Angela Walker, and she and her team have lots of ideas to bring in new members and engage your current members. Please invite her to a club or board meeting, and here's a link to some ideas: https://www.rotary.org/en/membership-makeover-invigorate-your-club
Also regarding membership, all Club Membership Chairs are invited to attend join District Membership Chair, Angela Walker, on the first Monday of every month, “Morning Joe" at 8:30am and "Evening Happy Hour" evening at 5:30pm, via Zoom for anyone that wants to talk about Membership. Contact Angela for the Zoom link.
Polio Plus Society Glenn Garlick recently emailed about our District’s slow response to the Polio Plus Society. To be a member of the society, you need to pledge $100 a year until Wild Polio is eradicated, which should occur in 4 to 6 years. Please check the District website for more information and to enroll. Glenn also is available to come to your club meeting to update you on the status of Polio eradication and the Polio Plus Society. Please contact Glenn at gtgarlick@yahoo.com to schedule a visit.
District Leadership Academy (DLA) is Back Interested in learning more about Rotary? Want to prepare for a leadership role in your Club or with the District? Enrollment is open for this year's District Leadership Academy. Each month starting in September, we'll focus on a different topic, including membership, public image, and organization. Graduates will be recognized at May's district conference. There is no cost to enroll, except for an investment of 8-10 hours per month - and the more that enroll from your club, the less work for each of you. See the district homepage for more detail. Questions? Contact DLA Dean PDG Lyle Staab or any DLA alumnus.
Looking for our next District Governor! Applications are now being accepted for District 6440 Governor 2026-27. The position of District Governor is a very rewarding position. The District 6440 Club runner page has all of the information and prerequisites. Perhaps you have thought about applying before and are still undecided. If that is the case, I encourage you to talk to a current member of the Governor line or any Past District Governor. And if you think you might want to get a feel for the leadership committees and possibly join, just reach out to one of the Committee Chairs or a current member of the Governor line.
