District Governor’s Message
By: DG Bob MacKenzie, Kennebunk RC
Did anyone see where summer went as it seemed to go by in a hot second! Regardless we will look forward to seeing it next year but autumn has arrived and we have much to look forward to as there is most of our Rotary year remaining.September is Basic Education & Literacy month! As I make my way through the District visiting clubs, I have the opportunity to see the great work you are doing in and around our communities. Only one example to go along with this month’s theme is I have seen a few clubs that purchase students’ first dictionaries. One club President said she took this idea on as an initiative because she remembers when she received her first dictionary in school and how much impact it made on her. So much that she wanted to make this her signature project when she became President in her club. Well, that was three years ago and that initiative remains and it is now a yearly project the Rotarians look forward to.
The initiative mentioned is only one of many that Rotarians do, sometimes without thinking of the impact that we have. There is no doubt that there are disadvantaged students who may never receive a dictionary, let alone a book, if it were not for Rotary. Receiving a dictionary not only has obvious advantages around basic education and literacy, but I would call this a positive childhood experience. The more positive experiences a child has, it offsets negative experiences and negative experiences have been proven to put our children at risk as they grow. The more negative experiences, the more likely that child has in alcohol/drug use, mental and or physical health issues, suicide and negative contact with law enforcement. What changes the impact is positive childhood experiences. We as Rotarians do create many positive experiences in children’s lives when we give back to our communities in various ways.
I continue to look forward to visiting your clubs and learning of the work you do and hearing all of the positive experiences you are creating. Know that you do make a difference and you change lives for the better. Although you may not see the benefits immediately, it pays dividends in the long run!