QueenCat Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 We moved to OH about two months ago. I was invited to visit a Rotary Club a few weeks ago and have gone a few times. I've also participated in a parade with them. They've invited me to join the local club. It wasn't what I was expecting. This group is hands-on and heavily involved in local projects, well beyond just fundraising. I'd love to hear the experiences of others, especially if you've been involved for a while. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Sorry. I really do not know much about the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 3 hours ago, Faith-manor said: Sorry. I really do not know much about the group. It's an international service group with chapters all over the world. They focus on, "championing peace, fight illiteracy and poverty, promote clean water and sanitation, and fight disease." They also focus on education. All rotary clubs at minimum finance global efforts and local efforts. Some do more hands on than other. I always thought it was mostly older, retired men. My local group's average age in probably 50, with most between 40 and 60ish. And almost as many women as men. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 I was tangentially involved with a chapter in Guadalajara, Mexico, a few years ago. It was almost entirely younger, wealthy Mexican moms volunteering. They did all kinds of volunteer work and were very hands on. From what they told me, the character of the particular chapter is very much dependent on local leadership. Chapters have a lot of freedom to group something that works for the members. I had the same assumptions you did about it before that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 There's a very active group in my town, and several of our friends are members. That chapter does a good bit of quite local service work -- they are huge fundraisers for the Y, which largely due to their support has grown from a single site supporting our (higher income, whiter, suburban) town gym & pool & gymnastics facility to a regional network that has 3 sites and provides a fairly full range of afterschool care, preventative health care, and wide programming serving parent groups, kids with disabilities and their parents, and lot more. Rotary also raises funds for our ABC house, the historical society, and various hands on projects around the parks & trails around town. We've been invited to a few events, and while it does seem like a worthwhile organization the vibe wasn't *quite* our style, and we're pretty busy with other organizations, so we've never joined ourselves. We have good friends in the NJ town we left 20+ years ago who are quite active in Rotary there; that one seems (?) to be more focused on "sister affiliations" with overseas groups; and focused on more tech-ie projects like expanding municipal broadband & public wifi access at home and getting Khan Academy etc into the sister affiliates. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 I think it sounds like a great way to make some new friends while you're also doing good work to help others. I would give it a try, for sure! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 45 minutes ago, Pam in CT said: There's a very active group in my town, and several of our friends are members. That chapter does a good bit of quite local service work -- they are huge fundraisers for the Y, which largely due to their support has grown from a single site supporting our (higher income, whiter, suburban) town gym & pool & gymnastics facility to a regional network that has 3 sites and provides a fairly full range of afterschool care, preventative health care, and wide programming serving parent groups, kids with disabilities and their parents, and lot more. Rotary also raises funds for our ABC house, the historical society, and various hands on projects around the parks & trails around town. We've been invited to a few events, and while it does seem like a worthwhile organization the vibe wasn't *quite* our style, and we're pretty busy with other organizations, so we've never joined ourselves. We have good friends in the NJ town we left 20+ years ago who are quite active in Rotary there; that one seems (?) to be more focused on "sister affiliations" with overseas groups; and focused on more tech-ie projects like expanding municipal broadband & public wifi access at home and getting Khan Academy etc into the sister affiliates. This sounds similar to the group here. They do several big fundraisers each year, plus lots of hands on things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 43 minutes ago, Catwoman said: I think it sounds like a great way to make some new friends while you're also doing good work to help others. I would give it a try, for sure! I'm pretty sure I'm at that point of saying "yes" to the invitation. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, QueenCat said: I'm pretty sure I'm at that point of saying "yes" to the invitation. I would! You can always quit if you end up not liking it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 1 minute ago, Catwoman said: I would! You can always quit if you end up not liking it. True... but I think I'm going to like it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, QueenCat said: True... but I think I'm going to like it. I think so too. When our kids were younger my husband and (even more so) I were largely uninvolved with civic and faith-based organizations in town. But over the last ~10 years we've become more and more so, to the point where we are now pretty connected and visible around (a verrrrrrry small, lol) town. And setting those roots and forging those connections has hugely affected, very much for the better, our satisfaction with the town and with our lives in it. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 When we were in Belgium, that was the first time I found out that they really were international. They had a sign up near a town we would pass by often and they had announcements of events in the local little free of charge newspaper that came to our house once a week with announcements, ads, and some local stories. When I was in high school, I was in the Civettes for a time- I think maybe 12th grade? The adult group was the Civitans. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamerGirl Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Rotary club is and was big in my country of origin. Usually it is wealthy or professional people who are members and give back to society. They conduct medical camps, adult education and several social welfare programs. I was a junior rotarian. It was part of my school. We did not have a lot of extra curricular activities, so this was one of those that was offered by the school. I remember volunteering and had some mentoring. It was a long time ago, so I do not remember particulars well. But it was fun. It is actually quite prestigious to be a Rotary Club member. People actually advertise it on their resume or have stickers on their vehicles if they are a part of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 It sounds very worthwhile, QueenCat! Hope you enjoy it. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 11 minutes ago, MercyA said: It sounds very worthwhile, QueenCat! Hope you enjoy it. 🙂 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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