The Pagosa Springs Rotary Club is a diverse group of engaged individuals participating through friendship and camaraderie in opportunities to serve our community and other communities around the world.
The end of June signifies the end of one Rotary year and the beginning of another!! Last week the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club members gathered to thank Allen Roth for his year of service as President of the Club and to welcome Warren Brown to that position for the upcoming year.
David Smith was selected as the Rotarian of the Year! David’s endless work on international projects and his passion for reducing deep poverty in the world are well known.
The Officers of the Board of Directors of Pagosa Springs Rotary fill vital roles in managing how effective and important the Club is to the community! Melanie Garrett is willing to serve another term on the Board, Sam Pittmon and Jim Garrett will continue to serve as Secretaries, Larry McClintock will continue as Treasurer. Cindi Galabota will serve as President Elect.
Warren has already challenged us to make it a priority in our schedule to attend meetings! The most vital part of our success in serving the community and the world is in our friendships and camaraderie.
Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones wants members to imagine the possibilities in the change they can make to transform the world.
Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, revealed the 2022-23 presidential theme, Imagine Rotary, as she urged people to dream big and harness their connections and the power of Rotary to turn those dreams into reality.
“Imagine, a world that deserves our best,” Jones told incoming district governors on 20 January, “where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.”
Jones, who will make history on 1 July by becoming Rotary’s first female president, gave a live online address to precede Rotary’s annual training event for district governors from around the world, the International Assembly. The assembly was rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be held virtually 7-14 February.
Jones told the incoming governors about a chance she took when a member asked for assistance in getting a young peace activist out of Afghanistan during the U.S. troop withdrawal last year. At first unsure how she could help, she relied on “that certain Rotary magic” and contacted a former Rotary Peace Fellow she had met a few years earlier. Less than 24 hours later, the activist was on an evacuation list, and soon she was on her way to Europe.
Engaging members through meaningful responsibility
To better engage members, Rotary needs to “adapt and retool,” Jones said, using her hometown as an example. Windsor was once the automotive hub of Canada. But after plant closings left thousands without work, the city needed to retool, in the same way an auto plant would, preparing for new parts or a new model. Now, Jones said, Windsor is a leader in agribusiness and medical and aerospace technology.
For Rotary, “finding the right ‘part’ to engage each member should be our core function,” Jones said. “It comes down to the comfort and care of our members.”
Engaging members is crucial to retaining members, she said, adding that we need to ask members what they want to get from Rotary and give them meaningful responsibilities.
“It is our offer of hands-on service, personal growth, leadership development, and lifelong friendships that creates purpose and passion,” Jones said.
Imagine, a world that deserves our best where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.
Embracing change also means embracing new club models, Jones said, as she asked the incoming governors to form at least two new innovative or cause-based clubs during their term. “Let’s make sure we engage our members so they love their clubs and their Rotary experience,” she added.
Jones also announced the appointment of a Rotaract member as a Rotary public image coordinator and said that she has included Rotaractors on several committees and will assign some Rotaractors as president’s representatives.
“We have been entrusted with leadership in our great organization,” Jones said. “Now it is up to us to be brave and intentional in our actions, and let others help us lead.”
Jones noted that Rotary has little time left to achieve the RI Board of Directors’ goal of having women make up 30% of Rotary’s members by 2023. Rotary has achieved this in more than 110 countries, she said, but it has a long way to go. She pointed out that Rotaract has already achieved 50% female members.
To raise Rotary’s profile, Jones plans to hold a global impact tour that will include talking with leaders about working together to address the world’s most pressing challenges. “Rotary opens these doors and we need to harness our connections, to deepen these relationships and create new partnerships,” Jones said. “And the best part is, this can happen at every level of leadership.”
Jones closed her address by saying that although we all have dreams, acting on them is a choice we make. When an organization like Rotary dreams about big things like ending polio and creating peace, she said, it becomes our responsibility to make them happen. “You don’t imagine yesterday,” Jones said, “you imagine tomorrow.”
In March, the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club set a goal to raise $10,000 in two weeks to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and due to your generous response, over $25,000 was raised. Now 100 days later we would like to give you examples of how these funds are being used.
Tjupa, a Ukraine resident and charter president of Rotary Club Kyiv International woke February 24, 2022 to the sound of heavy bombing. Within three days numerous lives were lost and the infrastructure providing access to food and other essential goods was destroyed. Survival was at stake.
In the midst of chaos, Tjupa turned to Rotary for help. The response was immediate. Using funds from Rotary International, and Rotary networks already in place, local groups began making food and medical supplies available. A lifeline was established and remains in effect today.
In the months following the onset of war, thousands like Tjupa have received aid through Rotary’s resources, which all start locally, just like they did in Pagosa Springs. Safe exit routes and bomb shelters have been identified; orphanages have been subsidized; abandoned pets rehomed; and those with special needs have been safely evacuated. International funds have provided specific essentials like hemostatic tourniquets, sleeping bags, diapers, coats, first-aid kits, battery packs, as well as meals for workers to keep these supplies moving around the clock. One club found an abandoned shopping center for distribution. Another Rotary member provided a barn to store supplies.
Since 14 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, and many to surrounding countries, Rotary is also providing aid to surrounding countries like Poland, Romania, Moldovia, and Slovakia. Basic supplies are being sent by trains, planes, and automobiles—not to mention ships and air carriers. The needs are great, but so is the outpouring of aid, which is now more than $15 million in contributions and an untold amount of volunteer hours. You are a part of that support.
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