During a recent club visit I was asked, “How does someone pick the service club that is right for them?”
My weak and wandering response was rooted in tired, old ideas of class, stereotypes, and competition. I was a little surprised at myself, and took an opportunity for more thought. Lucky me – I can write a do-over.
Mission and Vision
If one were choosing a service club without the influence of personal relationships or the reputation of individual members or a club, mission and vision statements would be a logical place to start.
Lions
Mission: To empower Lions clubs, volunteers, and partners to improve health and well-being, strengthen communities, and support those in need through humanitarian services and grants that impact lives globally, and encourage peace and international understanding.
Vision: To be the global leader in community and humanitarian service.
Kiwanis
Mission: Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.
Vision: Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide — so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them and provide the support they need to thrive.
Optimists
Mission: By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities and ourselves.
Vision: Optimist International will be recognized worldwide as the premier volunteer organization that values all children and helps them develop to their full potential.
Rotary
Mission: We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
Vision: Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in our selves.
All beautiful ideals and inspiring hopes. Does one call to you more than the others?
Belonging
Beside the considerations of what a group stands for and works toward, prospective members observe the people involved. Does one see themself in the club? Does the club see the prospective member as a natural part of it? The answers are the seeds of belonging.
It’s not uncommon for Rotarians to express that they joined because they wanted something from membership, and stayed to give something in fellowship. The transformation from joining to get, to belonging to give, is the stuff of lasting change.
Belonging isn’t permanent – not even after years and years. It is a living sense that ebbs and flows. If we find ourselves wondering if Rotary is “worth it”, we have waded out of the depths of belonging into shallows of membership – out of service into self. When this happens, we might rediscover our inspiration: Remember our Rotary heroes, read Paul Harris, spend some time thinking about the vision of those who came before, imagine the eradication of Polio, visit a club project, or sit near a happy Rotarian and listen carefully.
Whom do you know that will enjoy belonging in Rotary? Please invite them to join us – or any service club that calls to them. My dad was an active Kiwanian, and my mom had the Optimist’s Creed posted on our refrigerator. I’ll know that a pride of Lions has made my world a better place.
Thank you District 6250 for contributing $109,731.57 to Polio Plus last year. Your plans for events and appeals during the current years are deeply appreciated. The need to vaccinate some of our Afghan friends at Fort McCoy highlights the importance of Rotary's continued focus to eradicate this disease.
District 6250 Polio Plus Committee is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Virtual Ride to End Polio hosted by the Madison South Club.Clubs are invited to sponsor or form a team of 2 local riders to participate in a virtual ride from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. at SBR Endurance Performance Center in Verona. Each team will complete a 45-minute ride in one of two sessions. Team registration is $50. Deadline to register is Wednesday, October 13. You can find registration forms at https://rotary6250.org/page/bikes-for-polio/.
Clubs and riders are asked to raise funds from local Rotarians and community members at a per mile or lump sum amount. All contributions will be matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation. Clubs are asked to gather the funds contributed and submit to The Rotary Foundation so members are sure to get appropriate recognition from our Rotary Foundation. When you report your club results, we will be able to celebrate the impact we are having for people served by Polio Plus.
Please ask your Club Board to sponsor a team. Start recruiting local riders who will represent your club. An information packet will be emailed to Club Foundation Chairs. A web page and Facebook promotion are coming soon.
Note, only road bikes with a smooth rear tire and rim brakes will be able to be used for this event. In conjunction with the acceptance of your team’s registration, our event coordinator will work with you to make sure your bikes are compatible with SBR’s Compu-Trainer system. If you have questions about participation, please contact Mike Dillis, Madison South Rotary at mdag6250@gmail.com.
Thank you to the Madison South Club for hosting this inaugural event. They look forward to welcoming District 6250 Rotarians and friends on November 6 for this virtual ride to End Polio Now.
Dwight Heaney
Rotary Club of Fort Atkinson
District 6250 Foundation Committee, Incoming Chair
Posted on Oct 10, 2021
District Member Count: 2518
Member Growth Success:
Dear Rotarians,
We continue to have a net positive of 33 Members in our district membership. We’ve had several clubs having some great success in membership so far this year. Keep up the good work!
For those who had the chance to come to the membership portion of the Vibrant Club Workshop, you had a chance to learn about the efforts our very own Judy Levine with the Madison Breakfast in helping with consistent positive growth of that club going from 21 to 32 members in just a few years. The secret to this growth has come from having a service focused identity along with encouraged member participation in committees. For those who would like to hear the full interview with Judy Levine, please check out the replay!
We also discovered a similar secret to success from the Plano West Rotary club who grew from 21 members to 71 members! Since we are a service club, the product we need to sell is service. Therefore, people are asked to serve instead of being asked to join. This club provides over 70 service opportunities to their members and nonmembers. When a person joins the club, they are assigned to a leadership position right away to one of their 24 committees. You can check out their committees here: https://www.planowestrotary.com/page/how-we-lead Feel free to check out their New Member Video as well here: https://bit.ly/rotarynewmembers. If you would like to listen to the full Plano West Rotary presentation on membership here: https://bit.ly/rotarytransform
Finally, I mentioned during the Vibrant Club Workshop that I mentioned a $50 donation to the Polio Plus Foundation will give you a free Give Polio the Finger sweatshirt. After further thought, I decided to require it to be only a $25 donation. I have all sizes (besides Medium). All you have to do is email me at johnlockerotary@gmail.com once you’ve donated $25 to the Polio Plus Foundation. You can do it right on MyRotary!
Service Above Self means Rotarians show up for each other, in our communities, and around the world. Showing up is critical to who we are, to our culture, to our values.
And it’s not enough.
Why? Because our public image is still missing in too many communities. Or worse our public image is creaky with age and reflects an organization that put up a plaque 50 years ago (old logo), or the sign as you drive into town (old logo).
I like knowing that Rotary is in town. And who are they/we in the community now? Today? Rotarians don’t shout our good deeds to the world. That’s not who we are. We solve problems and move on to the next problem. Right? When we don’t at least speak about the service projects, the community collaborations, the scholarships, the leadership training, we’re invisible.
Showing Up is NOT showing off. Sharing what we offer is not boasting. Reporting our results is not arrogant.
How do we fix this? Start by looking around your community. How do your friends get their news? Facebook? NextDoor? Start there. Announce a meeting. Share a project. Invite volunteers to help on your next (fill in the blank).
Our Rotary Public Image is created by each and every one of us every day. We are members of “the public”.
Let’s show up and start sharing who we are, what we do.
Find ideas and help through the new SHOW AND TELL link on the district website.
a Letter from Lodi: the world gets personal for teens
Twenty-five countries.
Five different continents.
One hundred and eighty-five Interactors. A world of possibilities.
This was, by far, the most exciting and diverse project that Lodi Interact Club has ever been a part of as far as I’m concerned. It all began with a few out-of-the-blue Instagram messages from an Interact club in Metapec, Mexico, and turned into a six-week virtual exchange and an invitation to represent the United States in a worldwide event to promote unity and togetherness.
In our weekly virtual exchange, members from each club channeled their creative energy and took it upon themselves to create videos or presentations showcasing the ‘topic of the week’, which ranged from weather to cuisine, music, and many other subjects that we could contrast and connect with. While the purpose of these meetings was to meet for an hour and discuss the topic of the week with one another, we enjoyed each other’s company so much that we would often stay on the Zoom meeting for an extra hour or two to just talk with each other, laugh, and have fun.
Just before our virtual exchange was completed, Interact Metapec sent us an invitation to be part of a global project called ‘We Are One’. This was to be a couple of hours on a Zoom meeting where we would be mixed up with Interact members from other nations and play games to learn more about each other’s nationalities and unique countries. There are absolutely no words to explain how magical, amazing, interesting, and heartwarming this event was. Getting to meet and become friends with people from the Philippines, Italy, France, Romania, Egypt, Australia, Hungary, and more countries has been life-changing for me. Everyone was so kind and genuinely amazing. We still talk to each other almost daily and hold fun follow-up meetings every two weeks or so to play games and enjoy being with each other.
These are opportunities that I will never forget. I created so many new friendships and connections, learned about different cultures, and felt a purpose in what I was doing. The global event was created to expose our youth to the unique ways of life that surround them, and to put emphasis on world unity. This was definitely accomplished, and in the end, we all recognized that, “We Are One”.
Students from Onalaska High School’s Interact Club are helping Afghans at Fort McCoy. The students presented $1,000 in donations this morning to support District 6250’s Wisconsin Afghan Fund.
Money was raised during a ‘miracle minute’ at a football game. In about 60 seconds, the club raised just over $500 and added the second $500 from their savings!
The experience is reminding students how connected people can be. “It’s far away and local because we have these refugees coming. But they’re coming here to Wisconsin. And so, it’s even more important to help,” said Onalaska High School senior and Interact Officer, Jessica Randall.
Thanks for the coverage, La Crosse News 8000 – and for your efforts in “Finding the Helpers”!
If you are inspired by these generous and innovative student leaders, it’s easy to join them in giving! Click here.
Who is our Rotary neighbor? It is not just the person next door or across town. It is also a person living half-way around the world who you will never meet. Thanks to the Rotary Foundation and the generous contributions of Rotarians across our District to the Rotary Foundation, we have the opportunity to serve our neighbors through global and district grants. To help clubs find an international project or to assist clubs already in the process of developing a global grant, the International Service Committee has been created. The ISC is composed of Rotarians with experience in international projects to assist the clubs and all you need to do is ask. Just go to our District website and click on the service tab to find more information on the International Service Committee. We look forward to helping you serve our neighbors around the world.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Chuck Hanson, ISC District Chair
ceh@haleskemp.com
Vibrant Club Workshop
District 6250 VCW was an evening of inspiration, learning, and fun. The conversation and content was engaging and vibrant - a much needed stop on our journeys to serve our communities and our clubs.
Below you will find a summary of the resources for you to utilize both individually and within your club.
Thank you again for your service to our communities, your club, and our world. I am grateful for ALL you are doing to change and impact lives. Stay VIBRANT!
Our hybrid meeting task force continues to work behind the scenes in support of our district’s clubs by researching and documenting best practices when it comes to both the type of equipment and member engagement. As mentioned in previous articles you can access this information on the Hybrid Meeting Resources tab located on the District 6250 Home Page under the District Info heading.
When we kicked off our task force in January, we sent an assessment survey out to the leaders of every club in the district asking several questions around hybrid versus in person meetings. One question asked about the use of hybrid meetings in the future (post pandemic). At that time about 58% of the respondents indicated that they would maintain a hybrid format. When asked if they would consider going hybrid on a regular basis if they were provided support and guidance by this task force over 80% of all respondents indicated that they would be interested in hybrid meetings.
As we continue to research and document information for you, we would like to hear from you on two questions.
Is your club doing hybrid meetings now and do you plan to keep them going?
What is your biggest question or concern about hybrid meetings?
To share your thoughts on these questions please contact me at mdag6250@gmail.com.
District 6250 Polio Plus Committee is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Virtual Ride to End Polio hosted by the Madison South Club. Clubs are invited to sponsor or form a team of 2 local riders to participate in a virtual ride from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. at SBR Endurance Performance Center in Verona. Each team will complete a 45-minute ride in one of two sessions. Team registration is $50. Deadline to register is Wednesday, October 13. You can find registration forms at 
Dwight Heaney
