Moving Forward

Editorial for May 9 Club Bulletin

As I arrived for last week’s meeting, I thought that my editorial entitled “Changing of the Guard?” had already began to unfold.  That was because PE Therese was presiding over the Club meeting because President Jojo was still out of the country on business with his materials/equipment principals or suppliers.

But it turned out to be quite a revelation and thus brought fruitful results when two major concerns were well ventilated and steered through by PE Therese. Of course, her Service Projects chair Benny Pe served as a very good floor leader in the discussions.

First, the mobilization of funds for our planned projects.  Aside from finding ways to maximize the earnings of our Foundation’s funds now currently practically idle, a proposal to raise a separate fund through voluntary ‘investments’ from members was put up. This fund would benefit both the Club and the individual members by the sharing of the earnings through a well-thought out investment plan. In fact, appointing a Fund Manager was suggested who could advise how and where our Foundation funds can best earned better income. This is a very good idea and should be put for discussion soon as we have lost opportunities for good earnings since last year. .

The other major concern, as PE Therese brought up, was the membership retention and growth which needed to be attended to if the adequately funded projects are to be successful. The topic arises from the dwindling of attendance which seems to be limited to the “usual suspects” or the core group truly devoted to the Club’s and Rotary’s objectives of fellowship and service.  One culprit pointed out was the selection process or lack of it in bringing new members. As recalled, decades ago, we had pre-induction ‘fireside’ information sessions for prospective members. A period during which the prospective member not only has a chance to know what Rotary is all about but also to ‘decline’ if he’s not ready to embrace the responsibility of Club membership. The problem related to retention was that how we can  make our meetings more interesting so that members, especially new ones, could look forward to attending and bring back with them new knowledge.

PP Tony Abola