Rebecca MacPherson - District Governor January 2013 Message

It is my hope that you all enjoyed a festive holiday session. Ted and I wish each of you a New Year filled with happiness, good health and peace!  

January is Rotary awareness month. What will you do to create awareness of Rotary? 

This clever little verse was intended for promoting retail sales, but we can apply it to Rotary as well, especially in this month of Rotary Awareness. 

He who whispers in a well

About the things he has to sell

Will never earn as many dollars

As he who climbs a tree and hollers. 

Just as a successful salesperson must communicate their message, Rotarians and Rotary clubs must as well. If we increase Rotary Awareness about the good work we do; by better informing members and non-members alike then our membership will grow and we will have greater support for our many projects. 

For much of Rotary’s history, our service activities were "whispered in a well." The world knows little of our humanitarian and educational programs, and even Rotarians are largely unaware of the scope of activities of Rotary worldwide. 

The message of Creating Rotary Awareness is not new. In his annual theme, 2000-2001 Rotary President Frank Devlyn emphasized "Create Awareness." The fact that 12 years later many people still have no idea what Rotary is and what we do around the world means we are still not creating awareness in anything more than a whisper. Rotarians and Rotary Clubs need to be climbing the tree and hollering.

As I said during my club visits I think that one of the best ways to create Rotary Awareness is to tell your Rotary story.  Do you share with your family, friends and neighbours what Rotary means to you, why you are a Rotarian and the great work Rotarians do to help those who need it the most both in our communities and internationally. 

Do you proudly wear your Rotary pin?  We need to wear our Rotary pins every day, everywhere we go. 

In the words of RI President Tanaka, “The Rotary pin is always on my lapel. It is there because I am proud to be a Rotarian. Anywhere I go; people will see the pin and know who I am. Other Rotarians will see it and know that I am a friend, and people who are not Rotarians will see it as well. I want to be sure that all of them also understand the meaning of this pin.”

I encourage you to follow the example of RI President Tanaka and wear your Rotary pin every day. 

Clubs can never have too much community awareness. Create opportunities for the general public and press to learn more about your club throughout the year. Set up booths at community events to share information within your local community. This provides a forum for sharing who you are and what you are doing. We need to let others know about us. Speak to other organizations about what your club is doing in your community and around the world.  Clubs often have members of the local Chamber of Commerce and other groups speak at their meetings.  Why not ask if you can speak at one of their meetings.

We need to put the Rotary wheel on our projects, on the playground equipment we installed, on a sign where we are cleaning the park or the road, on a plaque next to the computer lab we set-up in a local school, or on the side of a van we helped purchase. We need to be sure that others know that we are Rotarians as we work to raise money to support our projects.  As we go about doing good in the world, we should be leaving behind a trail of Rotary wheels for others to follow. 

It is also a great time to create greater awareness in our clubs.  Have a past president or a long time member share some of the history of your club.  Talk about the projects your club has done over the years.  I suspect that there are many Rotarians who are not aware of what their club has done in the past.

Rotary Awareness is promoted in January, but Rotary Awareness is a constant challenge. Public Relations is not just the job of a designated chairman and committee. Every Rotarian represents Rotary, and it's the job of every Rotarian to Create Rotary Awareness. 

Our Rotary year is half complete! During the next few months we will be working hard to complete our goals. I hope that all the clubs in our district are working toward completing the goals for this year’s Presidential Citation. 

Already we are busy preparing for the next Rotary year.  As this newsletter comes out DGE Garry and his wife Colleen are in San Diego at International Assembly where they will hear from incoming RI President Ron Burton what our Rotary Theme will be for 2013-2014. In about a month your President Elect will be joining DGE Garry at PETS in Seattle, followed by District Assemblies and Foundation Training for the coming year. In the excitement of preparing for the coming Rotary year let us not forget that we still have a lot of work to do this year. 

As we start a new calendar year, let us continue to spread RI President Tanaka's message of "Peace Through Service".