FROM THE MAY EDITION OF THE “ROTARIAN"
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
The Rotary Club of Invercargill NRG (Next Rotary Generation) relishes its reputation as a projects focused, hands on team. A diverse group with members from all over the world and most of them women, the club has restored playgrounds, helped build a house that will be auctioned for charity, and distributed comic books to promote literacy. It has also adjusted some rules to make membership more feasible for younger people.
When Leon Hartnett moved to NZ from Ireland he looked into service clubs to connect with people and help them. Shortly after, District 9980 brought Holly Ransom, an Australian who at 22 was one of Rotary’s youngest club presidents. She spoke at a local community centre. Her talk inspired Hartnett, convincing him that Rotary was devoted to new approaches to finding members. With the support of the district, he and a small group started doing projects, and soon they had enough people to charter a club. To make the club attractive to younger members, they looked at the costs associated with membership. They decided no meals and only have nibbles
With an emphasis on service projects, the club made attendance at meeting optional but members had to be active through service. Some members rarely attended meetings and these changes attracted young people. The member’s ages range from 21 to their mid 50s
The club often works with other local clubs. They did a glow-in-the-dark golf event with another Rotary Club whose average age was 20 years older. They brought different skills that Hartnett’s club didn’t have but Hartnett said “we had different ways of doing things that they hadn’t thought of.”
Despite the club’s novel approach, Hartnett says “as time goes by, we tend to evolve into a more traditional Rotary Club. At first we said “let’s not have a Board. Now we have a Board.” Some things they simply needed to discover for themselves.
“We are Rotarians in every sense of the word. We’re just doing it our own way.”
WHAT IS YOUR CLUB DOING TO REINVENT ITSELF?
The Rotary Club of Invercargill NRG (Next Rotary Generation) relishes its reputation as a projects focused, hands on team. A diverse group with members from all over the world and most of them women, the club has restored playgrounds, helped build a house that will be auctioned for charity, and distributed comic books to promote literacy. It has also adjusted some rules to make membership more feasible for younger people.
When Leon Hartnett moved to NZ from Ireland he looked into service clubs to connect with people and help them. Shortly after, District 9980 brought Holly Ransom, an Australian who at 22 was one of Rotary’s youngest club presidents. She spoke at a local community centre. Her talk inspired Hartnett, convincing him that Rotary was devoted to new approaches to finding members. With the support of the district, he and a small group started doing projects, and soon they had enough people to charter a club. To make the club attractive to younger members, they looked at the costs associated with membership. They decided no meals and only have nibbles
With an emphasis on service projects, the club made attendance at meeting optional but members had to be active through service. Some members rarely attended meetings and these changes attracted young people. The member’s ages range from 21 to their mid 50s
The club often works with other local clubs. They did a glow-in-the-dark golf event with another Rotary Club whose average age was 20 years older. They brought different skills that Hartnett’s club didn’t have but Hartnett said “we had different ways of doing things that they hadn’t thought of.”
Despite the club’s novel approach, Hartnett says “as time goes by, we tend to evolve into a more traditional Rotary Club. At first we said “let’s not have a Board. Now we have a Board.” Some things they simply needed to discover for themselves.
“We are Rotarians in every sense of the word. We’re just doing it our own way.”
WHAT IS YOUR CLUB DOING TO REINVENT ITSELF?
