Category Archives: Membership

Preventing drownings is goal of new Rotary club

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Instructors teach a swimming class funded through contributions from Rotary members.

By Eve Fraser, charter president of the Rotary Club of Global Water Safety & Drowning Prevention 

Who would have thought a soccer team getting stuck in a cave in remote Thailand would lead to the chartering of a new Rotary club for water safety and drowning prevention? Yet here we are! 

In April 2021, the United Nations declared drowning to be the number-one cause of preventable deaths around the world. Africa and Asia were identified as the most affected regions. I had observed over the years swimming teachers delivering lessons to communities in need, struggling with the sheer volume of people who needed to learn to swim and the funding to deliver those programs. I imagined a club where members with the knowledge, skills, and experience worked together to train swimming teachers and help communities deliver sustainable programs. 

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New passport club points to bright future

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By Bob Hyde, Rotary Club of Miami Brickell and Miami Brickell Passport,  Florida, USA

Marcy Ullom

About two years ago, Marcy Ullom and her husband sold their longtime home in Miami and relocated to Brevard County, Florida. That took Marcy away from her Rotary Club of Miami Brickell, but also well above District 6990’s northern boundary. She attended a few club meetings near her new home, but “nothing clicked” and she “missed her peeps.” She considered what to do.

With the COVID-19 pandemic at its height, many clubs had switched to meeting virtually – including Miami Brickell. Marcy began thinking about the benefits of virtual meetings, and an idea sprang up. With a few more Brickell Rotarians, she began an informal, weekly Zoom gathering. The nucleus of a new Rotary Club had come into being.

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Grow your membership with Meetup

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By Etelka Lehoczky, digital content editor/writer

Maybe you know about Meetup, the 49-million-member online resource for coordinating and hosting events all over the world. Maybe your club already lists its meetings there. But if you’re not thinking strategically about your Meetup presence, you won’t see the kind of membership growth this amazing platform can generate.

I’m an organizer for the Chicago Philosophy Meetup, which has 5,034 subscribers. It’s true! More than five thousand people follow a group dedicated to one of the most obscure subjects imaginable. Just imagine how much interest your club can attract – if, that is, you understand the platform and promote your meetings the right way. Use these tips to get your club in front of Meetup’s users, and soon you’ll be racking up RSVPs.

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Reconciling truth and fairness

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By Martin Postic Jr., Rotary Club of Oklahoma City Midtown, Oklahoma, USA

Martin Postic Jr.
Martin Postic Jr.

As Rotary members, we’re encouraged to apply The Four-Way Test to everything we think, say, or do. And yet many Rotarians fixate on just the first part of the test – “Is it the TRUTH?” – and stop there. It’s easy to see why. Truth is an absolute. But fairness, as embodied in the second part – ­“Is it FAIR to all concerned?” – is not.

In society today, the goal seems to be to win at all costs. Individuals sometimes seek to skew the truth to achieve an outcome “fair” to them but not necessarily fair to all concerned. Some people feel that if they win, it IS fair, but if they lose, it’s NOT. They’ll play fast and loose with the truth to achieve the result they deem “fair.” Which begs the question, “Which is more important – truth or fairness?”

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Our Rotary club meets in the Metaverse

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Member avatars sit in a virtual room with a deep purple backdrop.
A recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Metaverso

By Juana Maria Serrano Marin, president of the Rotary Club of Metaverso, District 2203, Spain

Juana Maria Serrano Marin

A few months ago, a guest speaker at my husband’s Rotary club told the group about the vast possibilities of the Metaverse as a virtual meeting place. Not long after, a person on our district’s membership committee suggested that my husband form a new club – in the Metaverse.

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