BASSETERRE St Kitts, September 21st 2011 - Following is an address to the recent Membership Open House Meeting of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga by Past President (PP) Eustace Warner.
Rotary International’s (RI’s) best known motto is “Service Above Self” and its secondary motto is “They Profit Most Who Serve Best”.
This year the President and Board of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga (RCL) have set a very ambitious goal to increase our membership by at least five (5). If the RCL looks for new members only among the friends and relatives of Members it may not be able to find enough qualified new members, PP Eustace opined. But if Members reach out to community members of different professions and different generations many potential Rotarians will be found.
He advised Fellow Rotarians and guests that Rotary is a voluntary non-profit organization where Members regularly perform charitable work in the community either by direct hands on efforts or by raising funds for support of community organizations and projects. The meetings of the RCL generally follow an agenda which includes reports on Club activities and sometimes a guest speaker who is frequently a prominent figure, a Government official or an interesting personality from the community.
PP Eustace said that in the August issue of the Rotarian, the RI monthly magazine, the RI President referred to an old Indian saying and quoted, “When you help your neighbour’s boat across the water, you find that your own has reached the shore”. In other words, by helping others we often find that we have helped ourselves. He further indicated that as a Rotarian, he has found the joys and satisfaction of doing work in the community, of friendship, and of fellowship. He has made many new friends and acquaintances through Rotary. He has also gained the confidence and respect of the community so that he can boldly go into any business or organization and be recognized as a Rotarian. He is often recognized by individual members of the public as well.
He added that Rotary has a lot to offer but it is up to Rotarians to allow others to know what a fantastic Organization Rotarians are members of and to show them how they can integrate Rotary into their lives. Service does require giving of your time. Remember, Rotary is “Service Above Self”.
He noted that Rotary recognizes its Members who have given outstanding service to the community. As such, he has been recognized as Rotarian of the Year for 2005-6 and 2007-8, and Dedicated Service Awardee for 2006-7.
He further advised that other benefits to Rotary Membership include personal growth and development opportunities, attendance at social events, networking opportunities and encouragement to become involved in various spheres of leadership and community work with the youth, the elderly, etc. Through involvement with Rotary, he has been able to work with young people to help them to develop into more productive members of the next generation of leaders. He has assisted in identifying needs in the community and made suggestions for hands-on projects to address these needs.
He therefore encouraged prospective Members, invited guests, to take all these matters into consideration when deciding on whether they wanted to become Members of the RCL or any other Rotary Club.
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