PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
We did it! As of June 26, 2017 our club qualifies for the Presidential Citation Award by Rotary International!
Here are some of our goals. To see all the other goals we achieved and more details about our service projects, please go to the Rotary website and look for Rotary Central.
We are a large club, so we needed net gain of 2 new members. We had net gain of 4 new members, and we inducted 5 new members under the age of 40 this year. We needed to increase member retention rate by 1% compared to last year’s and we increased it by 22%!.
The Rotary Foundation giving goal was $536. We were able to give $6,720.43. There will be more donations by June 30th so the final number will be higher. Our contribution to Polio goal of $2,650 was surpassed, with a total $4,033.93 to help end polio in the world. All members of our club contributed at least $26.50 each to the Rotary Foundation. District Governor presented our club with the 100% Sustaining Paul Harris Banner at our installation dinner.
It is not the award itself that will tell us we are a great club. These goals served as a guide, and what we do as a team to achieve them is what counts. Each member of this club knows the contribution he or she has given to the club, to Rotary and to humanity, and that is what is behind those numbers, which are not comprehensive of all good our members have done in their communities and internationally.
Think of all service projects we did this year and the lives we touched through them. There are those who shake their heads in helplessness when they look at so many parts of the world in poverty, disease, lack of basic education and clean water. Then there are those called Rotarians, who see opportunities to be effective through our compassion for others. We roll up our sleeves and lift our heads resolved that we are the agents of change. Those people whose lives we touched may not know who we are and never have an opportunity to thank us. This is "Service above Self". Our club has shown to the world we are here to make changes, we will keep going forward, planning, contributing with donations, ideas, being leaders, following leaders, being active and welcoming more like-minded individuals to join us.
It has been an honor to serve as President of Rotary E-Club of Houston. When I was nominated president, I was unsure due to a serious health diagnosis, but I accepted the position because I believed in the team of supporters I knew I would have around me. I also believed in my heart that focusing on others and dedicating my time to a greater cause could only bring positive things all around. I was right. It has been a learning journey, and yes I worked hard to overcome some difficult episodes in my health, but it has been rewarding. Not the paper awards, praises, numbers, but the amazing people who stayed by my side, and to mention just one example, the smiles of the children in Uganda receiving clothes made by my own hands and of others. We are never alone when we have an honest aspiration to serve; it forms a beacon of light that those with the same intent will follow.
Rotarians of our vibrant E-Club of Houston, thank you for your dedication! Keep looking for beacons of light and if you don’t see one, be one! Help others see that they can be the hands and the brains that will promote change that will bring peace and love so we all can live in a better world.
With much love for humanity,
Adriane Miller
President 2016-2017
Rotary E-Club of Houston