#10 Because our future is bright
Rotaract brings together people ages 18 to 30 in universities and communities worldwide to organize service activities, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun. If you’ve ever been to a Rotaract meeting or volunteered at RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), you’ve already glimpsed one of the most vibrant parts of Rotary. Our programs for the 20-something and younger set are designed to mentor young leaders and bring generations together.
#10 Because our future is bright (continued)
Rotary recently relaxed its membership requirements, allowing Rotaract members to join a Rotary club without giving up their Rotaract membership. The change helps Rotaract members find the Rotary club that fits them best. Get involved with Rotary’s programs for young leaders in your area. Learn more at www.rotary.org/rotaractinteractryla.
Interact is a club for people ages 12 to 18 who want to connect with others in their community or school. Clubs organize at least two service projects a year: one that benefits their community and one that encourages international understanding.
RYLA is a leadership development program. While participants can be any age, most events focus on secondary school students, university students, or young professionals. RYLA events are typically three to 10 days long and include presentations, activities, and workshops.
#9 Because science says Rotarians are happier and healthier
Rotary club meetings offer the type of genuine social connection that triggers our bodies to release oxytocin, the so-called happiness hormone, and reduce levels of cytokines, pro-inflammatory proteins that signal the immune system to work harder and are often associated with poor health and depression.
Rotary club meetings offer the type of genuine social connection that triggers our bodies to release oxytocin, the so-called happiness hormone, and reduce levels of cytokines, pro-inflammatory proteins that signal the immune system to work harder and are often associated with poor health and depression.
In fact, data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index show that adults who volunteer and receive recognition for community involvement have higher overall well-being scores and experience less stress than their peers. Psychologists from the University of Queensland, Australia, found that membership in multiple social groups can boost self-esteem, and not just because of the relationships contained within them.
The more subjects identified with given groups, the more psychological benefits – purpose, meaning, and a sense of belonging – they gained from their memberships.
#8 Because Rotary’s scholarships help the best and brightest achieve their goals
Did you know? The Rotary Foundation offers a limited number of scholarships for water and sanitation professionals to study at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. Rotarians interview applicants who have been admitted to the institute and recommend scholarship candidates. Learn more at www.unesco-ihe.org/rotary.
Clubs and districts can support scholarships with either a district grant (for any level of study) or a global grant for graduate study in one of Rotary’s areas of focus. A student could study anywhere in the world and for any length of time on a district grant-funded scholarship. The district provides all administrative and logistical support for this type of scholar.
Rotary clubs that use global grants to support their scholarships may do so only for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s six areas of focus. Scholarships range from one to four years and can include an entire degree program. Prospective scholars have to show proof of admission to the chosen university and participate in club or district activities before, during, and after the scholarship.
Rotary’s Areas of Focus:
- Providing clean water
- Supporting education
- Fighting disease
- Saving mothers and children
- Growing local economies
- Promoting peace
#7 Because our work to support peace and end conflict is making the world a better place – one person at a time
Because our work to support peace and end conflict is making the world a better place – one person at a time. Through service projects, fellowships, and other Rotary-sponsored campaigns, members train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict, and aid refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
Join Rotary and help spread peace around the world. Give now to promote peace.
Sixty-five million people are displaced by armed conflict or persecution, and 90 percent of armed-conflict casualties are civilians, half of them children. Members also pursue projects to address the underlying structural causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
Where Rotary Peace Center alumni work
- Nongovernmental organizations 36%
- Government agencies 15%
- Research/academics 8%
- Pursuing advanced degree 8%
- Teaching 8%
- United Nations agencies 6%
- Police/law enforcement 3%
- Law 3%
- Journalism 2%
- World Bank 1%
- Other 10%
Support the Rotary Peace Centers at www.rotary.org/take-action/give/promote-peace.
#6 Because being one of us is so flexible
Rotary clubs have many options for attracting members and keeping them involved. In April 2016, representatives from Rotary districts around the world met and revised Rotary’s policies that give clubs greater flexibility in when, where, and how they meet and the types of membership they offer.
For example, clubs may now:
- Structure their meetings however they like, as long as they meet at least twice a month. Want your service events and monthly socials to count as meetings? No problem. Prefer to offer both online and in-person meeting options? Go for it.
- Amend their bylaws to reflect their attendance requirements. Reporting attendance to the district is still expected, but clubs are free to relax or tighten their policies.
- Change bylaws to offer additional membership types such as associate, corporate, or family. Want to invite colleagues of the same company to join as corporate members who alternate attendance at meetings? Do it.
- Invite a Rotaract member or younger professional to join at a lower financial and time commitment. Rotaractors who meet the qualifications of membership can now join a Rotary club without giving up their Rotaract status. Relatively few
Rotaract members make the jump to Rotary when they turn 30. This change may facilitate Rotaractors’ transition to Rotary clubs.
These changes were made after Rotary carried out several years of pilot programs to explore innovations in membership, classification, and the club experience. Consistently, the research found that when clubs have more freedom to determine how they meet, whom they invite to join, and what defines engagement, the club is more vibrant and able to grow.
#5 The good you do really will come back to you
Through the Global Rewards program, Rotary and Rotaract members can take advantage of discounts on car rentals, hotels, dining, entertainment, and a wide variety of other products. (Marriott, Amazon.com, Costco, and Ikea are just a few of the businesses that participate). Many members also offer discounts from their own businesses. Use it as a way to save money on a club project or to support a member-owned business. Products and services are added every week; find out what’s new at www.rotary.org/globalrewards.
Anyone can view the offers and discounts on Rotary Global Rewards. But only Rotary and Rotaract club members who are signed in to their My Rotary accounts can redeem them. You can access and redeem rewards from your computer, smartphone, or tablet. To read more about the rewards program please visit https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/member-center/rotary-global-rewards
Moving? Did you move, or have your schedule and obligations changed?
Rejoin or find a new club at www.rotary.org/membershipreferral.
Met someone you think would be great for Rotary?
Use the same membership referral tool to connect them with the right club.
#4 Because we know all about social networking
In 1905, a lonely Paul Harris was looking for camaraderie and a way to build a professional network. Today, that network is 1.2 million members strong who are connected to other leaders in their own communities and around the world.
Keep up with those connections in the My Rotary online community, where you can join a discussion group or start a new one.
Share your interests and activities at www.myrotary.org/exchange-ideas. Expand your Rotary network by attending a Rotary International Convention - visit riconvention.org for details.
Keep up with your connections near and far on social media: Check out Rotary’s pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
#3 Because our Foundation is 100 years strong
Together, Rotarians are attacking poverty, disease, and lack of education, and bringing peace through grant-funded projects in our areas of focus. What began as modest projects that helped relatively few people, about 100 years ago, gradually expanded, and today more than $3 billion has been spent on programs and projects transforming millions of lives around the globe.
Founded in the midst of a world war, our Foundation grew up during a global depression and a second world war to become one of the world’s leading foundations. Its story is one of vision, compassion, and generosity.
Celebrate the Foundation centennial by bringing your community together.
- Find ideas for events, fundraisers, and projects at www.rotary.org/foundation100.No matter how large or small, your gift makes a difference.
- Already supporting The Rotary Foundation? Make it automatic via Rotary Direct, which allows you to choose the amount and frequency that are right for you. Get started at www.rotary.org/give.
- Considering a large gift? Endowed gifts are invested in perpetuity, with a portion of their earnings spent on a designated program. Special naming opportunities are available for endowed gifts to recognize the donor or a loved one. Learn more at www.rotary.org/take-action/give/recognition.
#2 Because you are connected to people who take action
Planning a project and need help? Rotarian experts offer advice to other members through Rotary’s action groups and the Foundation’s cadre system.
- To learn more about action groups, visit www.rotary.org/actiongroups.
- Cadre adviser can help you plan and execute a grant project anywhere in the world, visit www.rotary.org/cadre-technical-advisers.
Connect with some of the most ordinary-extraordinary people like:
- Lisa McCoy from Rotary Club of Gravenhurst, Ontario - that provides bicycles to Cambodian children so they can get to school.
- Olympia LePoint from Rotary Club of Los Angeles - is a rocket scientist who helps others overcome their fears.
- Kenton Lee from Rotary Club of Nampa, Idaho - invented a shoe that can be adjusted to five foot sizes so that children always have a pair that fits.
- Ron Bowden from Rotary Club of Toowoomba East, Australia - helped found a “men’s shed,” a communal building stocked with tools for light carpentry, where people gather to tinker and socialize.
- Carole Kimutai from Rotary Club of Nairobi-East, Kenya - climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money to end polio.
- Neli Vazquez-Rowland from Rotary Club of Chicago - tackles homelessness, unemployment, and addiction in Chicago.
- Cathy Groenendijk from Rotary Club of Juba, South Sudan - risks her life to help girls who have been orphaned by the war in South Sudan.
- Todd Bol from Rotary Club of Hudson, Wis. - founded the Little Free Library movement, with more than 36,000 book exchanges in all 50 states and 70 countries.
- Filipe Senna Fernandes from Rotary Club of Macau - is a business consultant and marketing professional by day and a disc jockey by night.
#1 - Because we are about to eradicate a disease, and you can be a part of it
We are 99.9 percent of the way toward ending polio - horrible disease which crippled thousands of once active, healthy children. As of early June, there were only 16 cases of wild poliovirus in the world, and many think this could be the year we see the last naturally occurring case of polio.
As Rotary and our partners work to eradicate the poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the remaining endemic countries, we also continue immunization campaigns in other high-risk countries to ensure that the disease remains gone for good. You can participate on the ground. Email polioplus@rotary.org to connect with Rotarians leading upcoming trips.
Also consider using your network to spread the word and make sure polio stays on the global agenda. Provide a link to endpolio.org in your email signature. Follow End Polio Now on Facebook and Twitter and share the story of polio eradication with your social networks. When your legislators speak at club meetings, make sure you bring up polio funding. “The fact we are grassroots enables us to have a tremendous amount of influence,” says International PolioPlus Chair Michael McGovern. Host a community event to celebrate World Polio Day on 24 October; register your event and download resources at endpolio.org.
Reprinted from “The Rotarian”, August 2016 - "Reasons to love Rotary right now"