Governor Ralph's Letter September is New Generations Month
As Barb and I travel around the District we get to share in the many programs and services that Rotary Clubs offer youth. Over the last eight weeks I visited 23 of the 73 Rotary Clubs and at each club listened with pride to Board members as they talked about what they were doing for youth. In all cases, they were so proud of their involvement with children and young adults in their local communities and in far away places.
I went through my notes of the meetings and listed some of the many ways they offer this support. Here is the list, somewhat summarized and condensed. If you are one of the 23 clubs I visited, see if you can find your club. If I have not yet been to your club to hear how you help youth, think about how you would expand the list.
Local Communities
Scholarships and awards for graduating high school students
Awards for graduating elementary or middle school students
Literacy programs for children, young adults and families
Inner city youth initiatives
Books and school supplies for children
School councils and students at risk
Vocational scholarships
Student mentoring programs
Safe houses for teens
Career Days at schools
Safe play areas for children
Cubs, Scouts and Guides
Basketball and baseball sponsorships and tournaments
Drug and alcohol free youth awareness campaigns
Children's festivals, circuses and farm fairs
Newspapers in education
Youth volunteer awards
Bike rodeos
Breakfast programs in schools and low income housing projects
Ambassadorial scholarship applications and awards
Children's music schools
Rotary splash parks and sports parks
Camps for handicapped children
Camps for disadvantaged children
Hospital pediatric wards and children's hospitals
RYLA, Slapshot, Rotaract, Interact, EarlyAct, Adventures in Citizenship
Youth Exchange and Group Study Exchange
International Communities
Kitchen equipment for an orphanage and school in Zambia
E-skills learning for out of school youth in the Philippines
Orphanage support in Malawi
Grandmothers helping Grandmothers in AIDS/HIV stricken countries in Africa
Education project in Guatemala
House construction for children of the dump in the Philippines
Health and hunger children project in Kenya
Water for children in Uganda
Trade school in carpentry and masonry for young adults in Kenya
Children's literacy project in India
Early childhood teacher training in South Africa
Gift of Life
Children of Chernobyl
PolioPlus
Youth Exchange and Group Study Exchange
These are just some of the many great things I heard in just 23 clubs. I look forward to visiting the rest of the clubs and hearing your stories of how you are helping the new generation.
But New Generations Month is more than these two lists. What is your club doing to bring in younger members? Years after your Interact and Rotaract students graduate, do you track them down, see if they are still in the area, and invite them to join your club? Are the outgoing Youth Exchange students who are now young adults still living in the area? Have you invited them back to your club? And have you asked the Group Study Exchange participants from town to join? We tend to invite people like ourselves and in the same age category to join our clubs. If yours is an aging club then you must break away from this and actively seek out younger members. On a number of my visits I met young Rotarians in their 20's and 30's who were already on the Board of some clubs. It can happen and it does happen but you have to make it happen. Appealing to younger members might require changes in how your club operates and what it does. That's why the District's Visioning Team is such a hot item. These Rotarians are skilled at helping your club take stock and plan for the future. PDG Dick Earne and AG Nan Bruce head up two visioning teams. They are scheduling clubs for the exercise and are waiting for your calls.
Soon, September will be over and it will be Conference Month for District 7090. On October 17 to 19 you will want to be in Hamilton Ontario to attend On the Water Front: A Clear Commitment. To date, over 400 Rotarians, non-Rotarians and Youth Exchange students have registered. The planning committee is expecting another 400 to register in the next month. If you have not been on the website to see the conference program, please do so right away. You will find the sessions stimulating and fun. The Saturday afternoon program takes all delegates out of the convention centre and buses them to a variety of water related activities. Go to conference.rotary7090.org to see the full program and registration details. What better way to move along the Continuum of Rotary Experience, than to partake in the learning and fellowship of a district conference.
As District Governor, I get to visit all Rotary Clubs in the District. Most Rotarians could not do this nor want to, yet, all of you can visit a few clubs once in a while. Not many organizations encourage their members to visit clubs anywhere in the world. As part of your personal growth as a Rotarian, I encourage you to visit several other Rotary Clubs; do something different; step out of the norm; go back to your youth.