Tags
Air Cadets, Belize Literacy, Edmonton West, Olympic Champions, Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary Foundation, Service Above Self
One club, hundreds of ways to contribute!
I love watching championship sporting events. Whether it’s the Olympics or a World Cup of something, it is so inspiring to watch the ease of which these top level athletes perform. It’s no surprise that after a major event, interest soars and everyone wants to skate, curl, throw, or kick like the big leagues…it doesn’t take long to learn that the ‘ease’ is the result of a lot of work and dedication…nothing comes easy.
A visit to the Rotary Club of Edmonton West has that same feeling. As we sat in the Board meeting we felt like we were watching elite Rotary athletes flexing and stretching and creating something beautiful to watch. This club is firing on all cylinders and takes a wonderfully balanced approached to all avenues of service.
With more than 60 years of service they have adopted a Vision to create an expanding, fully engaged and fulfilled membership whose actions improve the lives of others with a Mission to have fun.
The Rotary Club of Edmonton West takes great pride in educating members and using their strengths and interests to build and improve the club. Everything they do is modeled on our Rotary motto of Service above Self, and as you could see in the video, it spans all the avenues of service
At the board meeting, I was particularly impressed with role of Club Service in this club. Most clubs see Club Service about program development, program supply, collecting fees, organizing social events. This club, with Club Service Chair Annie Mueller, has developed a Club Service portfolio of Olympian status! Annie has developed a portfolio that “touches and enhances all the other avenues of service, the applied avenue as opposed to the pure avenues of membership, vocation, new generations, and community service. It is the hands on practical avenue of Service” OK. WOW.
What does that look like? Membership is enhanced by enabling new and old members to spend time together working side by side. Club Service provides those opportunities by actively creating social events with hands on opportunities. These opportunities align with the goals of community service to provide time and expertise. It works to give club members practical experiences as well as insight to community organizations and to see how Rotary helps . These social events give members opportunity to use their vocational skills. They may also involve new generations to create a mentoring environment and connections between Interact, Rotaract, and Rotarians. Annie and her team have scheduled more than one event per month for club members to participate in. She takes attendance to see who is attending. If she notices that a certain segment of the club is not participating, her team tries to find an activity that fits their interests or time constraints. Whether it’s a Fellowship walk and BBQ, helping out at the Food Bank, attending a Comedy Event, it’s all about paying attention to the needs of your club members. Edmonton West has created a holistic approach to Rotary and it shows in everything they do!
The number of projects that they are involved in is staggering…yet I don’t see any hint of burn out. They are so well balanced that everyone does what they can. Locally they have sponsored Interact, Rotaract, Youth Exchange. They have sponsored the Grandview Concert series with Capital Care, school nutrition programs in two local schools. They have sponsored Air Cadets for over 38 years, and then there are the hands on projects that include Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Festival of Trees, serving meals at Boyle McCauley Community center and E4C garden work. We are amongst Olympians here!
Internationally they are improving lives for people in Cambodia with school building and water projects. They have hosted several eye clinics in Guatemala with club members travelling down there to support the doctors and technicians. One of the flagship projects that this club is super proud of is their dedication to building capacity and literacy in Belize. Please take the time to watch this video…inspiring!
Thank you Edmonton West! Your leadership is truly a Gift to the World!