Colleen McEwan, the Rotary Club of Kelowna Sunrise’s 2023-24 President, begins her new leadership responsibilities on July 01, 2023; an undertaking that can be exciting and gratifying, but also very challenging and time and energy consuming.
Colleen recognizes that she is fortunate to have a solid, dependable and committed Board working on her team to provide a service that will ensure that 2023-24 will be yet another successful Rotary Year for the club and its members.
In her presentation to the members and guests of the club following her pledge and that of the in-coming executive and officers to carry out their responsibilities faithfully and to the best of their ability, Colleen reviewed why she initially became a member of Rotary International and why she now wanted to serve in a leadership role with the club.
When she became a Rotary member, she also found out that serving as a Rotarian also provided her with enjoyment, comradery, and another purpose, helping those in need. “What I found was a group of fun and caring people who truly wanted to make a difference in their community and the world…it has been amazing!” she stated.
Colleen expressed her appreciation for the work of President Bamford and the board over the 2022-23 Rotary Year; and shared that she was very appreciative of the members of the club and their guests who had come to the Installation event to celebrate the work of the 2022-23 leadership team and to show support for the new board. Colleen conveyed that “By coming tonight you show your commitment and faith in this club and I thank you for that.”
“Many Rotarians have asked me what my goals are for this year…I’ve thought about it a lot and I am so proud to be a member in an engaged, fun club that does good in the community and the world and my goal is to support our club to continue to be this,” declared Colleen.
Her presentation identified three specific goals that she wanted the club, along with her, to focus on throughout the new Rotary Year:
She identified that it was important to continue to support both large and small fundraising activities so that there are ample funds to support international projects, local projects that support peace, caring for our environment, literacy and health, and to provide funds to support hosting exchange students.
She stressed that we need to enhance the community’s awareness of Rotary to attract new members and added that membership is very relevant since we desire to continue to do good for others and that with a larger active membership we can even do more. “An engaged group is also good for us, i.e. connection equals wellness,” noted Colleen.
She also wanted to provide leadership, along with her team, to engage the club members through a variety of activities – “fellowship opportunities, interesting and challenging programs, participation in community projects, and fundraising, all which are flexible and recognize all types of participation.”
Colleen stressed that “These past few years have been difficult – I want to thank Randall and Marjolein for shepherding this club through the challenges of covid and ensuring that this club continued to be active and to do great work locally and internationally.”
In closing, Colleen vowed to take on a leadership responsibility that ensures that “the Kelowna Sunrise Rotary Club is a thriving club; and with the support of the board and the members I know that we will achieve this through old traditions and new initiatives.”