Buckeye's (and Goodyear's) Rotary Day Event
Posted by George Hester on Oct 27, 2014
Here is how we came about the idea of developing a “Who Is Rotary?” presentation at our local Chamber of Commerce.
From a historical standpoint, I always noticed 7 or 8 Rotarians participating in our Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce weekly meetings; and the Chamber meetings usually included updates on events, charity drives and other points of interest that were taking place in the West Valley. I further noticed that many of the charity events and charity efforts were being supported by a Rotarian, but it was often done in the name of the Charity, or some other sponsor, and usually not in the name of Rotary.
With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to let all of the Chamber of Commerce Members know that many Rotarians were very involved in their community, but doing so many things without any personal recognition or recognition of Rotary. With this in mind, I sponsored a Chamber of Commerce presentation, titled … What is Rotary … and Who Are The Faces of Rotary.
We started with 10 or 12 of us planning to stand up and present a Rotary project that we were personally involved with, however as the idea became more well know, many other Rotarians (in our Goodyear Club) wanted to participate as well. As it turned out, we had 20 Rotarians from 2 clubs participate in the presentation - each having around 3 minutes to announce: (1) that they were a Rotarian; and (2) to introduce a project that they worked on, and what the goals and the results were from that event.
It was an amazing display of Rotary pride and love for community service. The other Chamber members were just amazed that there were so many Rotarians within the Chamber, and that Rotary was so goal oriented and successful. Afterward, we heard many comments that it was not known how involved Rotary was in our community, and that there we so many giving people … also involved in Rotary.
We found this approach to be very effective in alerting the community as to the various initiatives of Rotary (local and international), and the faces of the people who make up Rotary.
George Hester
With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to let all of the Chamber of Commerce Members know that many Rotarians were very involved in their community, but doing so many things without any personal recognition or recognition of Rotary. With this in mind, I sponsored a Chamber of Commerce presentation, titled … What is Rotary … and Who Are The Faces of Rotary.
We started with 10 or 12 of us planning to stand up and present a Rotary project that we were personally involved with, however as the idea became more well know, many other Rotarians (in our Goodyear Club) wanted to participate as well. As it turned out, we had 20 Rotarians from 2 clubs participate in the presentation - each having around 3 minutes to announce: (1) that they were a Rotarian; and (2) to introduce a project that they worked on, and what the goals and the results were from that event.
It was an amazing display of Rotary pride and love for community service. The other Chamber members were just amazed that there were so many Rotarians within the Chamber, and that Rotary was so goal oriented and successful. Afterward, we heard many comments that it was not known how involved Rotary was in our community, and that there we so many giving people … also involved in Rotary.
We found this approach to be very effective in alerting the community as to the various initiatives of Rotary (local and international), and the faces of the people who make up Rotary.
George Hester
President, Buckeye Rotary Club