By: PDG Peter Johnson, RC of Yarmouth
There was a lot – and I mean A LOT – of terrific content during this year’s Convention, but I’ll leave the big picture comments to others. Because I spend a lot of time assisting Carolyn in the Basic Education and Literacy Rotary Action Group booth, there’s a lot of time to chat with lots of people from many clubs. Here’s two take-aways we’ll be using in Yarmouth:
- There are 26 Rotary Action Groups. We will ask all of our members to be a member of (at least) one RAG. There isn’t a single club in the world that can accomplish every possible project everywhere. But we can certainly take some pride in being a part of an international organization that empowers its members to serve our broader communities. All RAGs have some type of newsletter – all we’re asking is that our members see some projects other than our own, take some pride in being a part of the organization that makes it happen, and occasionally report back to our members with items of interest. To track this information, we are asking our Club Secretary to create a field “Rotary Action Group(s)” within the Member Profile section. For more information about Rotary Action Groups, go to https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/empower-leaders/rotary-action-groups.
- A Rotarian from British Colombia made a point to thank Yarmouth for a District Grant project now several years past. “Peter, I continue to share how you empowered your newest members to create the project”. I had completely forgotten the process that made such an impression, so here it is in a nutshell: In December, gather your new members from that calendar year, review terms/conditions/timing of District Grants, and empower them to create their own “Class of 2023” Rotary-led, District Grant suitable Project. Instant empowerment. Happy to report Yarmouth has three new members calendar YTD, so it looks like we’ll be revisiting one of our own policies.
From the halls of Rotary International Convention, Melbourne, 2023.
Editor’s Note: Great ideas, Peter. One of the privileges of being District 7780 Newsletter Editor is that I have to and really enjoy reading the Good News from all the Clubs and from District officers. I want to take them to my club and to other clubs in the district (and beyond) and share them. I’d also refer folks to Jeff Slayton’s Facebook Page (District Foundation Annual Fund and RC of Saco Bay) because he posted many wonderful pictures from the Convention and from Australia as a whole.