RI president-elect announces 2022-23 presidential theme
by Ryan Hyland, Rotary International
Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones wants members to imagine the possibilities in the change they can make to transform the world.
Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, revealed the 2022-23 presidential theme, Imagine Rotary, as she urged people to dream big and harness their connections and the power of Rotary to turn those dreams into reality.
“Imagine, a world that deserves our best,” Jones told incoming district governors on 20 January, “where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.”
Jones, who will make history on 1 July by becoming Rotary’s first female president, gave a live online address to precede Rotary’s annual training event for district governors from around the world, the International Assembly. The assembly was rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be held virtually 7-14 February.
Jones told the incoming governors about a chance she took when a member asked for assistance in getting a young peace activist out of Afghanistan during the U.S. troop withdrawal last year. At first unsure how she could help, she relied on “that certain Rotary magic” and contacted a former Rotary Peace Fellow she had met a few years earlier. Less than 24 hours later, the activist was on an evacuation list, and soon she was on her way to Europe.
Engaging members through meaningful responsibility
To better engage members, Rotary needs to “adapt and retool,” Jones said, using her hometown as an example. Windsor was once the automotive hub of Canada. But after plant closings left thousands without work, the city needed to retool, in the same way an auto plant would, preparing for new parts or a new model. Now, Jones said, Windsor is a leader in agribusiness and medical and aerospace technology.
For Rotary, “finding the right ‘part’ to engage each member should be our core function,” Jones said. “It comes down to the comfort and care of our members.”
Engaging members is crucial to retaining members, she said, adding that we need to ask members what they want to get from Rotary and give them meaningful responsibilities.
“It is our offer of hands-on service, personal growth, leadership development, and lifelong friendships that creates purpose and passion,” Jones said.
Imagine, a world that deserves our best where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.
RI President-elect Jennifer Jones
Embracing change also means embracing new club models, Jones said, as she asked the incoming governors to form at least two new innovative or cause-based clubs during their term. “Let’s make sure we engage our members so they love their clubs and their Rotary experience,” she added.
Jones also announced the appointment of a Rotaract member as a Rotary public image coordinator and said that she has included Rotaractors on several committees and will assign some Rotaractors as president’s representatives.
“We have been entrusted with leadership in our great organization,” Jones said. “Now it is up to us to be brave and intentional in our actions, and let others help us lead.”
Jones noted that Rotary has little time left to achieve the RI Board of Directors’ goal of having women make up 30% of Rotary’s members by 2023. Rotary has achieved this in more than 110 countries, she said, but it has a long way to go. She pointed out that Rotaract has already achieved 50% female members.
To raise Rotary’s profile, Jones plans to hold a global impact tour that will include talking with leaders about working together to address the world’s most pressing challenges. “Rotary opens these doors and we need to harness our connections, to deepen these relationships and create new partnerships,” Jones said. “And the best part is, this can happen at every level of leadership.”
Jones closed her address by saying that although we all have dreams, acting on them is a choice we make. When an organization like Rotary dreams about big things like ending polio and creating peace, she said, it becomes our responsibility to make them happen. “You don’t imagine yesterday,” Jones said, “you imagine tomorrow.”
Rotary Fellowship has created a global home for LGBT members and friends
by Joseph Derr, Rotary Magazine
During a breakout session on “Welcoming the LGBTQ Community Into the Family of Rotary” during the 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Michelle Wilson, a member of the Rotary Club of Athens Sunrise, Ohio, had a question. “I asked, ‘Why doesn’t Rotary have a group for LGBT+ people?’” When she added, “We should start one,” she says, “the response was overwhelming.”
Before the session had even ended, Sean O’Hara, a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Charles Happy Hour, Louisiana (and later the fellowship’s first president), had opened a Facebook group for LGBT people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender). Wilson left the meeting with a stack of business cards from people who wanted to be part of the new group. The LGBT Rotarians and Friends Fellowship was born.
In between regular Zoom events held in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, members like Wilson — who is the group’s current president — are talking to clubs about promoting diversity and telling the story of being LGBT in Rotary.
The fellowship is seeking to work with clubs on projects that support the LGBT community and to offer resources to clubs that want to be more diverse and welcoming to all.
RotaryPRIDE
I’ve been a Rotarian for over 20 years, and Service Above Self is in my DNA. I’m 66 and came out at age 61. Serving the LGBT community is an acknowledgment that many others went before me, and it’s now my time to be of service. — Ronald Schoenmehl, Rotary Club of San Diego Downtown Breakfast, California
When I became president of my club, my husband was seated at my side. The following year, when I passed my gavel, my husband pinned on my lapel the past president’s diamond pin my late father received in 1976 when his term ended. I’ve worn it ever since! — David Bricka, Rotary Club of Sedro Woolley, Washington
To have a fellowship where I can meet and visit — virtually now — with other gay Rotarians in a completely “out” environment really affirms that we are now completely included in Rotary. - Valleri Crabtree, Rotary Club of Wellston, Ohio
Making progress
I was one of the first openly transgender presidents of a Rotary club in the world. When I was president, we had a Rotary/LGBT community information exchange meeting. None of those things could have happened 10 years ago. — Monica Mulholland, Rotary Club of Queenstown, New Zealand
I have been involved in Rotary since I participated in Rotary Youth Exchange in 1989. I was a member of the Rotary Club of Hollywood, California, in the late 1990s and helped to charter the Rotary Club of San Francisco-Castro. Rotary is far more inclusive today than at any other time in our history. --Brian Rusch, Rotary Club for Global Action District 5150, California
I’m optimistic that in the post-pandemic future, a couple of the Rotary clubs in our community will come together to participate in Pride events and support the LGBT community in other ways. Our clubs also need to identify LGBT community organizations that need our support, friendship, and mentorship. — John Culshaw, Rotary Club of Iowa City, Iowa
Fair to all concerned
Many members, and indeed clubs, tend to shut down people who talk about LGBT in Rotary, as they see this as being political. They are wrong! This is not political. This is human rights we are talking about. Remember The Four-Way Test!
Monica Mulholland
As a transgender woman, I am interested in the issue of fair treatment of all genders. Today, most people understand that differences in gender identity are not a disease but are very common. Although younger generations are gradually adopting an open attitude toward LGBT groups, it is still awfully slow overall. — Wen-Yue Huang, Rotary Club of Taipei Nanlung, Taiwan
It’s past time that we tell the whole story of who we are regardless of whether it is different from some established norm, because living an authentic life takes courage. This acceptance is freeing people and allowing us an opening rather than hiding who we are. — Mary MacLean, Rotary Club of Bozeman, Montana
“Joining Rotary and connecting with the fellowship has given me more purpose and drives me to get involved more than I ever have before.” — R. Lee Donaldson, Rotary E-Club of Hawaii
This story originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Rotary magazine.
The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis: The Power of One in Action
Meet Jeff Kaminsky - Our Speaker on June 7th
Jeff Kaminsky, is a Northbrook resident, businessman, and trained as a volunteer first responder with the Community Emergency Response Team [CERT].
“The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program offers members of the public an opportunity to learn basic hands-on disaster response techniques and life-saving skills to utilize in their own homes and neighborhoods.”
In March of 2022 at the beginning of the Russian War against Ukraine, Jeff organized a humanitarian mission and flew to Berlin to aid and rescue Ukrainian refugees who were fleeing the war. After initially assisting with the care and resettlement of 200 Jewish orphans rescued from Odessa, he began volunteering at the Berlin Central Bus Station where nearly 40 buses of refugees were arriving daily from Ukraine. Most of the refugees were women and children who fled for days or weeks to escape Russian bombings and terror. Many people had no place to go and hadn’t slept in a bed or bathed for nearly a week.
Having seen their exhausted faces and learning that many people had no place to sleep, he began renting hotel rooms for the most vulnerable refugees, including women, children, the elderly, and people suffering from cancer or who needed other medical assistance.
Kaminsky began using social media to share with friends and family about the dire situation for the refugees on the ground in Berlin. People were moved by his posts and began donating money to help.
To date, the raised funds have enabled him to provide hotel rooms with clean beds, hot showers, and fresh breakfasts, to more than 1,000 refugees.
As the situation inside Ukraine continued to deteriorate, Jeff began working with other volunteers and organizations to provide a range of aid including bringing food and medicine to people inside Ukraine; organizing medical extractions from within Ukraine; bringing busloads of refugees out of Ukraine, and working to find semi-permanent housing in Germany, France, Italy, and Poland.
With a unique ability to build relationships and bring people together through networking, along with “entrepreneurial spirit” it is Jeff’s belief that working together “we will either find a way or make one!”
This resulted in his current endeavor to create an organization called “Project Aid & Rescue” that will give his grassroots team of volunteers the ability to collect donations.*
Located in the United States as well as in Europe, and whose purpose is to raise money to help refugees as well as the Ukrainian people still inside Ukraine.
When not working Jeff enjoys being outdoors, biking, running, traveling with his family and watching his three kids play baseball and soccer. During the pandemic, the Kaminsky family took on a new hobby and built several raised gardens that produced over 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of fruits and vegetables in one season that resulting in receiving the Village of Northbrook’s Green Resident Award for Sustainability in 2021.
A graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning & Land Use Development as well as a master’s degree in Business Administration in Marketing & Entrepreneurship, Jeff Kaminsky is Director of Business Development at Accurate Perforating and Accurate Metal Fabricating.
*Note that “Project Aid & Rescue” is not a non-profit organization at this time.
July 2 & 4th for the pancake breakfast! Great family fun! Also – there are folks who want to do volunteer events – but not ready to join Rotary- here is a great opportunity to get them involved!!
Beverly Moriello has set up links for our pancake breakfast as well as the Rubber Ducky Race.
Please pull out your calendar and plan when you can help.
We need pre-event set-up July 2nd; day-of set-up and production July 4th.
Denis says, “As the coordinator for these events, the most unpleasant obligation I have faced was to construct this email. It was difficult because I am asking all members physically capable and available to donate precious time to assist with these events.
Our club has an elevated level of respect in our community due to our service. This is possible due to the unselfish dedication and giving of our members. Assisting with these events will hopefully reinforce your dedication to the principles of Rotary and give you a sincere and deserved feeling of accomplishment.”
Join fellow club members for our first in-person installation in 2 years on June 21st! Presentation of Colors by Boy Scout Troop 463 will kick off the evening.
As we say a fond farewell to Club President Ron Knight, our special guest Bill Kmiecik, District Governor Elect will install our new club president, Mitch Portugal, and other special mentions and awards will be followed by dinner and dancing.
Sunset Ridge is a lovely, traditional club that will make for an unforgettable evening.
You must RSVP by June 10th to Elke Friedmaneither by email to: schatzi85@aol.com or by phone to 847-738-7916. The event starts at 6 PM and the dress code is business casual, tickets are $75.00 per person in advance. If you would like a vegetarian meal, please indicate so when you respond.
June 10th - Club at the chamber golf outing: Heritage Oaks - Rotary hole sponsor at Chamber outing, needs set-up, take-down, hourly participants-Volunteers Needed
June 21st - Sunset Ridge Country Club Installation Dinner get tickets now.
Join Zoom meeting on the good old-fashioned telephone!
+1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 295 416 335 Password: 726580 for telephone only
Please note - Meetings are no longer recorded. If you do not attend on zoom or in person you will miss the fun! Meeting dates and times, or virtual access may change, always check our website for updates. In-person meetings are held at Hilton, 2855 Milwaukee Rd., Northbrook or other locations as announced, and the club Covid protocol must be followed.
We have hybrid-meetings. Join us! Contact RotaryNorthbrook@gmail.com to join us. PLEASE NOTE: THE JUNE 7 MEETING WILL RUN A BIT LONG. THE SPEAKER UNDERSTANDS IF YOU HAVE TO LEAVE.
