“Rotary Programs are Magical”
October 16th, 2007: District Governor Mary Martin began her address to our club with a heartfelt thank you for allowing her to join us. She smiled with pride as she shared the fact she has 23 clubs left to address out of 73 total. Her theme reflects the Rotary International President’s theme: “Rotary Shares”. We “share our time, energy, resources, money, and love with our community and other people around the world with people we’ve never met.” DG Martin then related an anecdote from the Darlington Rotary Assistant Governor that emphasized how important our “Shares” outreach is to those we don’t know. When the Assistant Governor was growing up in Hartsville, the paper product used for his schoolbook covers had the Rotary 4 Way Test printed on the back. He memorized it and never forgot it even though he didn’t know what Rotary was at the time.
Ms. Martin then challenged us to read the President’s message each month in the Rotarian magazine in order to provide guidance on our strategic direction. She further stated that Rotary Programs are Magical. They’re magical because we strive to be:
– Accepting and welcoming ~ no matter where you move, there’s a Rotary Family.
– Helping and giving ~ we financially support surgical procedures that allow children to live normal lives among their peers;
– Outreaching and empathetic ~ we help provide clean drinking water to villages that had none before;
– Focused and persistent ~ there’s four more countries with polio…Polio Plus is dedicated to eradication of the disease.
After a request to read the District Newsletter and provide feedback [via email], Ms Martin emphasized our District membership is down and challenged us to invite good people, “even those nice Yankees that move in down the street,” to enjoy Rotary fellowship and the opportunity to serve our community. She marked the goal of 5000 total members by the end of the year.
With great pride, our District Governor complimented our District, 7770, for being number one in the world in Foundation giving. “Korea is number two, just two thousand dollars behind, and the incoming President [from Korea] represents a club in which every member has given at least ten thousand dollars. Ms. Martin emphasized the Foundation returns more than it receives:
– $446,000 budget this year for educational and humanitarian efforts;
– Not one penny spent on salaries;
– 8 Ambassadorial Scholarships ($26,000 each);
– 4 Cultural Scholarships ($12,000 each);
– $80,000 in District simplified grants (there’s still money left);
– $80,000 in matching grants;
– $50,000 in water purification efforts; and
– $20,000 for Polio Plus.
After inviting everyone to the next District conference in Myrtle Beach Ms. Martin said we have 1 President, 530 District Governors, 32,000 Rotary Clubs, and 1.2 million members: “look at your club times 32,000; let’s hope the sun never sets on a Rotary project.”
Reported by Bill Crowe, Keyway Committee