By Corey Lopardi, membership development chair for District 5020 (parts of British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA)

Recently, I had the pleasure of  interviewing the newest club president in our district who moved to a small town of 1,770 and started a brand new Rotary club with 42 members. They grew to almost 50 members in just over 30 days.

Debbie Vance never expected to charter a new club. But when she moved to a new town in British Columbia and began doing service on behalf of Rotary, she drew the interest of neighbors and new friends who wanted to know how an organization could inspire someone to jump into action. Together, the charter members are forming the club culture, establishing its unique traditions, setting service priorities, and making it their own.

I felt Debbie’s story holds valuable information for all Rotary members, and RI’s membership staff concurred, helping me turn my interview into the SoundCloud story above. Please enjoy.