PRESIDENT'S CORNER: After the first full week…..

After the first full week…..


Well we have passed a milestone – surviving the first full weeks of my presidency. I feel we have had a wonderful start and face some significant challenges.

The beginning of the Rotary year means time for members to pay their club dues and for our Club to pay our District and Rotary International dues. All members have received invoices and 8 of our 37 members are already paid up. We should have everyone paid up by the end of the month. [Note: You can give post dated checks up to September 15.]

Our Polio Eradication Campaign is also doing well. We have raised nearly 1,000 NIS toward of goal of 4,000 NIS. We have a ways to go and Sophie Simons, our Campaign Chair, will help us achieve our object through your generosity. I have spoken with a number of you about polio and have found a member who had polio and many who had a family member who contracted the disease. Let us play our part to END POLIO NOW.

We have a couple of significant challenges. The first is the downward trend in our Club membership. When I joined the Club in 2000 we had 49 members. Today we number 37. Did you know that in 1979 we had 80 members! I look forward to working with each of you to develop lists of potential members – remember both in quality and quantity – and to help you get your family, friends and contacts to consider joining – after all we are “selling” a great “product” – fellowship and service in the framework of sound Rotary objectives and values.

The other challenge is membership attendance at club meetings and its impact on our budget. We have two types of meals in our Club: kosher and YMCA buffet. Helene Stuart is doing a wonderful job of bringing kosher meals every week and we usually have three meals and at least three paying members – we do not lose money on these. Our YMCA buffet has a guarantee of 20 meals a week that we must pay for regardless of how many attend. The trend is that less than 20 of our 34 members who eat at the buffet attend each week. The Club must pay for the 20 meals. Last week is a good example. 16 members paid for the YMCA buffet and the Club lost 200 NIS. We need to encourage higher attendance – we seem to dip below 50% on most occasions -and thus boost our membership participation and stop losing money on meals.

Remember: THE FUTURE OF ROTARY IS IN YOUR HANDS