Highlights of Rotary Club of Charlottetown Club President's Report - Paul Crant:
I was a member 17 years ago when this Club had 180 odd members. One and a half years ago, we were down to 61 members. The Club declined year after year until there were not enough people power or willpower to properly undertake our 75 year old fundraiser - Radio/TV/Internet Auction. We tried a couple of fundraisers after that. Unfortunately, with those Club fundraisers, the club subsisted on between $5,000 - $7,000 per year.
With the efforts of many in the Club, we were able to bring in many new members. We now have 91 members. The influx of new members has allowed the Club to successfully undertake a new fundraiser, Rotary Radio Bingo. Many members played a part in this success in the Bingo. This success of which will mean our Club can get back to being a force in the Community.
Our next step is to start to deploy the funds we have raised over the last year in the Community. We expect to present a Donations Policy in the coming weeks. What we do not want, is just write cheques all the time. It is not in the best interests of Rotary or the best interests of this Club to just write cheques. The goal is to have Rotarian involvement in at least some of the Donations we make and to use the funds to cover our the costs of our Community Service programs. For larger Donation requests, we may want to partner with other groups in the community in order to undertake new service projects. This will give Rotary better Branding. Over the next weeks and months we will be reaching out to those Club members who have the passion to serve and truly Make a Difference to further enhance our strategy.
Highlights of RI President Ian Riseley speech at the Rotary Club of Charlottetown meeting on Oct. 2rd:
President Riseley explained how he helped to design his 2017-17 theme tie based on native Australian plants, and he explained the 2017-18 theme "Rotary: Making A Difference". The theme logo represents the diversity of Rotarians around the world striving for a better future.
He has three key goals for 2017-18:- Encourage all clubs to achieve the Presidential Citation https://my.rotary.org/en/news-media/office-president/rotary-citation. The criteria this year are based on the Rotary Strategic goals.
- Encourage all clubs to plant at least one tree for each member of their club.https://www.rotary.org/en/2017-18-ri-president-ian-hs-riseley-announces-his-presidential-theme That means over 1.2 million trees worldwide at a minimum. He reports the overall goal is certain to be achieved as one district in India plans to plant 1.4 million trees!
- Encourage all clubs to let the world know what they do. Each club must record on Rotary Club Central the following details:
- $ in local currency of how much is contributed to charitable activities
- # of volunteer hours contributed to charitable activities
RI President Ian also encouraged Rotarians to consider attending the upcoming Presidential Conference on Peace and the Environment in Vancouver in Fenruay 2018.https://environmentandpeace.com/ This is one of six such Peace conferences set for around the world also focusing on the other five area of focus of the Rotary Foundation plus the environment.
Finally RI President Ian invited everyone to join him in Toronto in June 2018 for the International Convention. http://www.riconvention.org/en