Information for Prospective Members

Becoming a Rotarian is a chance to give back to the local community through service, charity and volunteer work. It’s also an opportunity to participate in national and international service projects meant to improve the lives of people across the globe.

This section explains the philosophy of Rotary, and describes activities and expectations of members of the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights Rotary Club.

Mission of Rotary International: The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights Rotary Club is part District 5960 of Rotary International (RI). The overall goals of RI are to provide humanitarian service and help tobuild goodwill and peace through projects that address illiteracy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water and environmental issues.

A major area of focus for RI is eradication of polio.During 1985, Rotary International initiated PolioPlus, its flagship program, to eradicate polio from the world. As of 2009, Rotary club members contributed more than $880 million and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. There are only 3 countries where polio still exists, with less than 2,000 cases of polio reported.

1. The development and acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
2. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
3. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
4. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

History: RI was founded in Chicago during1905 as the world’s first volunteer service organization.Today, there are about 32,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries with a total of 1.2 million members.

The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights Rotary Club is part of District 5960, and includes 64 clubs in the area that stretches from St. Croix Falls to River Falls in Wisconsin, and from the northeast to the southwest of Minnesota along the Mississippi River, and includes St. Paul. The District was formed during 1982-83.

Member Obligations
Attendance at all meetings is encouraged. We recognize it is not always possible to attend every meeting, but the best way to stay informed, involved and engaged is to attend the weekly meetings. We give attendance awards for perfect attendance each month. As the winner of the perfect attendance award, the Club will donate $50 to the charity of the winner’s choice, in his or her honor.

If you are unable to attend our meetings, you can still get attendance credit by attending a meeting of another Rotary Club. There are many clubs in the area. You can find other Clubs in our District by visiting our District’s website at www.rotary5960.org. Attendance credit also is given for participating in our community service events, Board meetings, District conferences, social events or other Rotary-related activities.

Financial Obligations: We pay dues to Rotary International and the District for each member. Quarterly statements are sent to members to collect the following fees:

• RI & District dues     $ 35.00
• Cost of meals            $204.00
• Total/quarter             $239.00

Some members are "dues-only" so they only pay for the breakfast each time they eat.  Members can make tax-deductible donations to RI as they wish. We encourage donations to RI as it is a worldwide organization that also supports our efforts locally, but it is not a requirement.

Fundraisers: Since none of our donations come out of our Club dues, in order to offer financial support to local and international charities, we hold two major fundraisers each year:

• Moonstruck Charity Golf Tournament and Silent Auction: This 9-hole golf tournament has been held every year since 1990. Golf teams play 9 holes of golf at night in early September at Southview Country Club. The event includes dinner, a silent auction and raffles that include wine and dessert. All members of the Club are asked to participate in Moonstruck. We ask each member to set a goal of raising $500 through a combination of activities including soliciting sponsors, collecting raffle donations, selling golf foursomes, and bringing guests to the dinner. In addition, we ask each member to sell 10 wine raffle tickets. Because this event is big and complex, we also ask members to attend the event and help out where needed. We generally raise more than $10,000 at Moonstruck, so it is the cornerstone of our fundraising efforts.
• Rotary Roses: Each Spring, we sell roses that are delivered on Administrative Assistant’s Day. Each member is asked to sell 15 dozen roses for $15/dozen, or to pay for the profit the Club would have made if you sold 20 dozen roses. Our cost varies from year to year, but the profits typically are $175/20 dozen.

Governance: The Club is governed by a Board. The Board elects a President, President-Elect, Club Treasurer and Club Secretary each year.

Beyond the elected positions, our Club has several committees. The President chooses the committee chairs for the upcoming term, who are then ratified by the Board. Our Club committees are as follows: