Last week Rotarians welcomed District 6860 Governor Phil Williams. He spoke about these areas of emphasis:

•   The M&M’s of Rotary (Membership and Means)

•   A New Generation

•   Public Relations

  For the first: We are to represent a cross section of the community, gaining experience & knowledge from one another’s diversity. We should refer to our classification guide to see vacancies in certain vocations and then look in the yellow pages to target new people.

  Wear our Rotary pin when traveling and have a “Rotary Speech” ready! When asked about Rotary invite guests! Ask them to join! Accept them into the family of Rotary. How about our guest speakers? Ask if they are interested in joining. It is not about the numbers though – it is about their knowledge and placing more hands on projects that make a difference around the world!

  Secondly: Focus on younger people! Look to the upcoming movers and shakers in our community to bring into the Rotary family. These are people with new visions and ideas based on the world today! Dr. Williams reported that our Interact clubs are doing an excellent job at supporting fellow students by offering scholarships to summer school for struggling students. They are learning service above self and how it affects our future.

  Our projects are how we separate ourselves from other service organizations. All funds we contribute go toward our projects. The annual fund is held in trust for three years and then divided/distributed. ONLY interest is used for supporting the Rotary Foundation. Global receives 50% and then 50% is distributed to Districts designated for Polio, Annual fund and Permanent Fund.

  In 1984 there were 5,000 cases of polio reported every day. Today – the latest report was 379 total cases in 2011 and so far in 2012 only 136! India has been removed from the list and is considered polio free! Last year there were 30,000 stations that vaccinated 160 million children in a single day!

We need to remember in the US that polio is only a plane ride away. This is why it is so important to eradicate polio in the world. Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan are still affected. Pakistan and Afghanistan are still very reluctant to vaccinate.

Lastly, plan projects with Public Relations in mind! We want people to see what Rotary is doing in our communities so that more people will be attracted to Rotary. This brings people into Rotary that already share the vision!