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August is known as “Membership Month” in Rotary clubs around the world. Rotary clubs are known for the high-impact service projects they undertake locally and globally. Rotary members have pushed polio to the brink of eradication, delivered clean water to those in need, improved their local communities, provided scholarships to the next generation of peacemakers, and continued to do good in the world. There are many opportunities to serve, and some members discover a true passion for specific projects. There is much diversity in Rotary and we want to help each member plug into a project or committee of their choosing to discover a comfortable path to being engaged in our club. When you feel that your membership is rewarding and that you benefit from leadership development, serving others, inspiring others, and supporting projects with sweat equity or dollars that really do change lives, then you are part of something that you want to share with others. Let’s grown our team of Rotarians and invite others to share our focus on “Service Above Self” and “Be the Inspiration.”

Yours in Rotary,

Robin Charlesworth, President 2018-19
Rotary e-Club of Houston
Rotary District 5890

Rotary Basics – Part II Rotary History, Values and Avenues of Service
Source: Rotary.org

How did We Get Here?

We’ve been making history and bringing our world closer together for over 100 years. The first Rotary club was started in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1905 by an attorney named Paul Harris. Harris wanted to bring together a group of professionals with different backgrounds and skills as a way to exchange ideas and form meaningful acquaintances. In August 1910, the 16 Rotary clubs then in the United States formed the National Association of Rotary Clubs, now Rotary International. In 1912, Rotary expanded to a few more countries, and by July 1925, Rotary clubs existed on six continents. Today, there are more than 35,000 clubs, in almost every country in the world. For more information about Rotary’s history, go to rotary.org/history.

What We value

Rotary was founded on principles that remain at the heart of the organization today. These principles reflect our core values — integrity, diversity, service, leadership, and fellowship, or friendship. Our core values emerge as themes in our guiding principles.

Avenues of Service

We channel our commitment to service through five Avenues of Service, which are the foundation of club activity.

• Club Service focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.

• Vocational Service calls on all Rotarians to work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.

• Community Service encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality of life of people in their communities and to serve the public interest.

• International Service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects, using local member expertise to build long-term partnerships for sustainable projects, seeking service partners abroad, and more.

• Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.

August Calendar

August 5 - Wine Tasting Dinner Fundraiser

August 13 - On-Line Meeting with Assistant Governor Dierdre Murray

August 15 - Newsletter

August 16 - Board of Directors Meeting @ 7:00 pm CST

August 18 - Service Saturday - Books for the World

Rotary Books for the World Warehouse
203 Eagle Avenue, Pasadena TX

8:30AM to 10:30 AM

The entrance is on Eagle Ave. between Munger St & Main

South of Hwy 225

You may park on Eagle Ave. or under 225. Be careful crossing the street and do not leave valuables in your car

Questions? Terry Ziegler - bigzlumber@aol.com or 713-825-1176

August 25 - District 5890 Technology Training

August 30 - Newsletter

Latest Events!

Wine Tasting and Dinner Fundraiser

August started well for our club with the Wine Tasting and Dinner Event put together by our Rotary E-Club of Houston and Vox Culture. The goal was to raise funds for our Martin Bailey’s Garden at Wisdom High School. If you missed the event and would like to contribute, please click on the PayPal yellow button to donate. The garden will provide nutritious food and education about food and the environment to the students. We need to purchase various types of material to build the garden, so any help is appreciated. Below are some photos of the event, which was held at the Archway Gallery in Houston this past August 5^th. We had wonderful guests, including our District Governor Carmen Cuneo, PDG Bill Palko and spouse Debbie, PDG George Yeiter and spouse Beverly, and many more important guests who had their senses delighted with great wines, a delicious 6-course meal, while surrounded by beautiful art and great conversation. Great job to our club’s Past President Wind, Viktor from Vox Culture, and all volunteers who made this an unforgettable and sure to be repeated event!

Video: At this Dutch School Children Grow Their Own Food: https://youtu.be/uOMqTv3404s

Rotarians At Work

The Rotary Club of University area, home club of our super inspirational leader District Governor Carmen Cuneo, has a great program to help Firefighters with cancer who come to Houston to seek treatment. Thanks to the program, they can stay in a Houston apartment at almost no cost. This past July 27^th there was an open house for the second apartment, where Rotarians from several clubs volunteered to help. Thank you, Brittany Johnson, our Community Service Chair for coordinating volunteers from our club, and to our club’s volunteers PP Wind Nguyen, Fabiola Giannone, and one of our newest members Nicole Bianchi, our Membership Chair, for donating your time and effort to this admirable cause.

Firefighters and First Responders give of themselves constantly. As the saying goes, “They run into a burning building while the rest of us are running out.” And, it is almost impossible to repay this type of bravery.

Recognizing that these brave men and women sometimes need help themselves, the Rotary Fire Fighters Home (RFFH) strives to meet its mission of providing fully furnished, temporary housing to them at little or no cost, for use while they are undergoing treatment at the Texas Medical Center (TMC). Unfortunately, the majority of those in need of such housing are receiving cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and temporary housing near TMC is both hard to find and expensive.

More information about the Rotary Firefighters home here: https://www.rotaryfirefightershome.org.

Upcoming Events

Rotary E-Club members, a great way to find out more about decisions and plans made in our club, and share ideas is to join our board meeting. Non-members, please email one of our board members to get a meeting ID to join. Our next BOD meeting is August 16^th at 7:00 PM Central.

Service Saturdays

President Robin would love to see more members volunteering in our Service Saturdays, and there is work to be done everywhere. One great opportunity is the Books for the World this Saturday August 18^th. If you join, please send us photos of you in action! We want to feature the great work of Rotarians in our newsletter. Be the inspiration!

Address: Rotary Books for the World Warehouse
203 Eagle Avenue, Pasadena TX 8:30AM to 10:30 AM

The entrance is on Eagle Ave. between Munger St & Main South of Hwy 225. You may park on Eagle Ave. or under 225. Be careful crossing the street and do not leave valuables in your car. Questions? Terry Ziegler - bigzlumber@aol.com or 713-825-1176.

Program - Membership

MEMBERSHIP

As President Robin emphasized in her message, August is Membership Month! Membership is so important that we dedicate this month’s program to it with a great article written by Geoffrey Johnson featured at Rotary.org. Read on and be inspired!

Step right up: In Rotary’s membership game, everyone’s a winner

When it comes to finding new members for his Minnesota Rotary club, Tom Gump doesn’t just walk the walk, he trots the trot: the turkey trot. Gump is a former president of the Rotary Club of Edina/Morningside, which makes boosting membership a priority. In fact, that’s the fourth item on a list of 10 tips to attract and retain members which has been prepared – and practiced – by the club. It’s tip No. 10 that finds Gump clad in a turkey suit. More on that shortly.

The tips work: During Gump’s 2016-17 stint as club president, Edina/Morningside added 31 members. Eleven of them were women; 10 were under 40 years old. With 94 members, the club “went from being classified as a medium-size club to being one of District 5950’s large clubs,” says Gump, who will be the 2020-21 district governor. “There were 13 clubs larger than our club in our district, and now there are only four.”

The tips have proven so effective that Gump has taken the Edina/Morningside show on the road, using a PowerPoint presentation to coach other clubs on specific ways they can expand their membership. “I have been called a good salesman,” says Gump (who, for the record, is a real estate lawyer and a developer). “But to me, recruiting new Rotary members is not really selling. It’s matching up potential members with what he or she wants in a club.”

So if you’re looking to add members to your club, consider taking a page from the Edina/Morningside playbook. Read on for the club’s 10 tips, as well as five suggestions for increasing membership from other Rotarians and Rotary clubs.

Create a list of all the great things about your club

The point is not just growing your club, but boosting Rotary’s capacity to make a difference around the world.

Welcome to our Rotary E-Club of Houston!

Service Above Self

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Robin Charlesworth

AUGUST 2018

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