Priority Four of Rotary International’s Action Plan is to “Increase Our Ability to Adapt.” As a test, Rotary changes its leadership from top to bottom each year. It forces each Rotarian to adapt to new leadership.
As your new District Governor, I can say that following in the footsteps of Governor David Lukov will be hard. Thank you, David, for your leadership! Hopefully, all of you will adapt to my leadership.
The new Rotary International President is Stephanie Urchick of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania. At an assembly of all the District Governor Elects in January, President-Elect Steffanie announced her theme as “The Magic of Rotary.” She immediately made it clear that there is no magic wand. She said, “You create the magic with every project completed, every dollar donated, and every new member.”
I am in my 50th year as a Rotarian in the same Club. Speaking of adapting, when I was inducted, the club's name was Marysville-North County Rotary. For a while, we were the North Snohomish County Rotary Club. After sponsoring the Marysville and the Stanwood-Camano Rotary Clubs, we settled on the Rotary Club of Arlington.
In preparing to write this message, I assumed that the theme for July was related to new leadership, as it has been in the past. The monthly theme for July is “Maternal and Child Health.” But I can adapt!
One of my goals with the monthly message is to highlight Club projects in our district that address one of Rotary International’s focus areas. Monthly themes now highlight areas of focus. I encourage clubs with projects in a specific focus area to share that project with district members by providing a story for use. There is a form that a club may use to submit stories to the Peace Arch Journal. Click here for a link to the form.
As with all of Rotary’s focus areas, there is an action group for reproductive, maternal, and child health. If you are interested in that focus area, join the action group.
Every day, mothers risk their lives giving birth, and millions of children die each year from treatable, preventable causes. At least 7 million children under the age of five die annually due to malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. To combat this, Rotary provides immunizations, antibiotics, and essential medical services for babies while supporting trained healthcare providers for mothers and children.
When it comes to children’s health, we cannot forget Rotary’s decades-long effort to eradicate polio. Please help that effort by donating now to PolioPlus. There is no magic wand! We create the magic with every project completed, every dollar donated, and every new member.
