Minutes of the Jan. 29 meeting are posted in Documents.
An agenda for the meeting on March 5 will be attached to the reminder that you will receive. I sincerely apologize for cancelling last week's meeting but the circumstances were beyond my control.
Best wishes to all our March birthday members. Yes, Deborah and Jennifer are twins.
Are you aware of the responsibility or obligation that most Rotarians fail to perform? Is it paying their dues? Attending meetings? Contributing to the club’s service fund? Participating in club events and projects? No — none of these!
Of all the obligations a person accepts when joining a Rotary club, the one in which most Rotarians fail is sharing Rotary. Rotary International clearly supports the position that every individual Rotarian has an “obligation to share Rotary with others and to help extend Rotary by proposing qualified persons for Rotary club membership.” It is estimated that fewer than 30 percent of the members of most Rotary clubs have ever made the effort to propose a new member. Thus, in every club, there are many Rotarians who rarely share their positive experiences of Rotary membership with other individuals.
The RI Constitution states with respect to club membership: “Each club shall have a well-balanced membership in which no one business or profession predominates.” One merely has to glance through the pages of the local telephone or chamber of commerce directory to realize that most clubs have not invited qualified members of all businesses and professions into Rotary. One of the founding principles of Rotary is a fair and equitable representation of the professional and business population of the community it supports. To remain relevant, Rotary clubs must include all professions and businesses within a community. Clubs can further expand the diversity of their membership by making sure that their membership also reflects the local business and professional community in terms of gender, age, and ethnic background.
Only a Rotarian may propose a customer, neighbor, client, supplier, executive, relative, business associate, professional, or other qualified person to join a Rotary club. Have you accepted your obligation to share Rotary? The procedures are very simple, and everyone must know at least one person who should belong to Rotary.
The Rotary Foundation Weekly Messages: WEEK 36
WHAT IS THE ROTARY FOUNDATION’S “WORLD FUND”? At the end of every contribution year, each Rotary district’s contributions to the Annual Programs Fund are divided into two funds: 50 percent is credited to the World Fund (WF) and 50 percent is credited to the District Designated Fund (DDF). The World Fund is used by The Rotary Foundation to pay for the worldwide programs available to all Rotary districts, regardless of specific contributions.
IT IS THIS FUNDING FORMULA WHICH TRULY MAKES THE ROTARY FOUNDATION AN INTEGRAL PART OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL.
Paul Harris Society
The Paul Harris Society recognizes Rotary members and friends of The Rotary Foundation who elect to contribute $1,000 or more each year to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus Fund, or approved global grants.
The purpose of the Paul Harris Society is to honor and thank individuals for their generous, ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation. Rotary districts often honor new members of the Paul Harris Society by presenting them with a certificate and chevron at a district or club event. This week I was honoured to receive this recognition:
As you Club president, I am inspiring our members to contribute to the Rotary Foundation by offering a match in points for making a donation to the Rotary Foundation this year. We can get Every Rotarian, Every Year Club recognition if we achieve a minimum Annual Fund contribution of $100 per capita during the Rotary year, and every dues-paying member personally contributes at least $25US to the Annual Fund during the year. We’re more than halfway over the per capita goal ($54US to date) but we do not have a contribution from everyone yet.
