August is Membership month in the Rotary calendar. We observed it with three Project Showcases featuring younger members and a Showcase Tuesday with Membership Committee Chair Diane Donaher. Keeping and retaining members is our first order of business. Rotary International President urges “Each one bring one.” Rotary International’s goal is to reach 1.3 million members and our District goal is to add net 30 new members by June 30, 2022. What is your Club’s membership goal?
On July 1st, Rotary International made environmental sustainability our seventh area of focus. District 7430 has chartered an Environmental Sustainability Committee, chaired by Terry Reed of the West Reading/Wyomissing Rotary Club. Please contact Terry or me if you care to join this Environmental Sustainability Committee whose mission will be to make a positive difference in our world.
District 7430 has three events scheduled soon. First, the ShelterBox Stock the Box event will held at the Steel Club on September 10th. We want each Club to contribute some amount so we can continue to lead in the critical disaster assistance provided by ShelterBox. Second, please join us for fellowship and to support the Rotary Foundation by playing in the District 7430 Golf Tournament at Brookside Country Club on September 20th. Third, please join us to have fun and eradicate Polio at the Purple Pinkie Race to Zero and Octoberfest at the Schnecksville Community Fair on October 2nd. You can register for these events on the District website or in this edition of “Welcome Aboard.”
Thanks to our Rotary Club Presidents for welcoming me during “official” visits. I will continue these meetings through October. The Allentown Rotary Club drew me into “Romper Day” to feed children participating in Allentown’s summer playground program. Tell me about your special Club events so I can join, if possible. Let’s be our best selves through Rotary!
We celebrated the life of Past District Governor Linda R. Young on July 19th. She was a friend, a coach, a mother, grandmother and a true Rotarian. Many cherish Linda’s friendship because it came with candor and loyalty. She served as a valued trainer to three District Governors.
Linda loved her daughters, Ellen and Emily, and her grandchildren, Mya and Leo, all of whom were central in Linda’s world. Professionally, she served as a nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital and became Vice President of Nursing in 1990. Some of her contributions include opening the Priscilla Payne Hurd Wing and Education Center and building partnerships with Moravian College to implement the first B.S. in Nursing program associated with a hospital.
She volunteered as a Eucharistic Minister at Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church. Her Rotary accomplishments include serving as multi-year Club President, District Governor, RLI Chair, Welcome to Rotary Chair, and Rotaplast Committee Chair. Rotaplast helped her combine her vocation and avocation in correcting cleft palates of children, giving them a normal appearance and creating opportunities for dignity and self-respect. Linda served in three Rotaplast missions.
Linda made the world better for the rest of us. If you are inclined to make a financial gift in Linda’s memory, you might give a check payable to “District 7430 Foundation” for the benefit of our District Rotaplast Program by mailing to Treasurer Tom Hartzell, HMK Insurance, 54 S. Commerce Way, Suite 150, Bethlehem, PA 18017.
While we all Chart Our Course for an exciting Rotary year, I’d like to draw your attention to the “sail” of our ship. The sail uses wind power to propel a ship. Membership is the sail that propels Rotary. We need a strong sail made of existing and new members and the wind of exciting service projects, meaningful friendships and foundation funding to propel Rotary forward. District 7430 is a leader among districts throughout our zone because of the commitment and positive energy created by YOU, the members in our clubs.
Being able to zoom in to club meetings across our district during the last year , I’ve been amazed by the quality of speakers, the genuine fun and caring members demonstrate for one another and the touching stories of the impactful projects being conducted throughout our district.
The District Membership Committee acts as a consulting company made up of Rotarians from throughout our district who have experience in growing Rotary. We also have goals that we will work on together as a committee:
Be a resource for clubs to meet the membership goal they have set for the year
Add 2 new clubs and 2 satellite clubs to our District
Help clubs asses their membership challenges and create opportunities for growth through intentional efforts to be welcoming
Deliver Diversity,Equity & Inclusion training in 13 clubs
Build an understanding of “Alternative Club Models” so clubs can grow through new and creative ways.
Whether your sail is strong or it has a few holes or you are losing wind in your sail and membership is dropping, contact me and let’s talk about how the District Membership Committee can help your club enjoy the open waters and grow! I look forward to hearing from you!
Growing Membership in your club is a key initiative throughout Rotary this year and every year. More members mean more ideas, more fellowship and of course, more service. Growing membership involves both attracting new members and engaging our existing members so that they stay in Rotary. Each club has its own culture and its primary focus for membership growth may be different. Where should we start?
Over the next month, we will provide each club data on its 3-year historical attraction and attrition rates. This will provide an unbiased indicator of what has been happening in your club over the last several years. A recent comprehensive analysis of about 850 clubs in eastern United States has shown that clubs that are growing tend to continue to grow, and clubs that are declining tend to continue to decline in membership, unless the club members and its leadership change the club experience.
Now to the question “Where to focus our efforts?” Let’s break it down into four areas:
Low Attrition Rate, High Attraction Rate – Your club has a growth culture. Keep doing what you are doing and keep experimenting with new ways to grow your membership.
Low Attrition, Low Attraction – Your club is stable, but needs to focus on attraction activities because your club is likely getting older every year.
High Attrition, High Attraction – Your club has a revolving door and needs to focus on engaging your club members. Keep up your attraction activities.
High Attrition, Low Attraction – Your club is in the Danger Zone. The initial focus should be on engagement, and then focus on attraction.
If you are interested in learning more, please contact District Membership Chair, Diane Donaher (donaher2@ptd.net) for a club presentation which will be customized for your club’s needs.
We're making some changes to the Vibrant News and we're excited to share these with you and to encourage your participation!
First, the timing of Vibrant News is changing to Quarterly - it will be issued within the first 7 business days of each new quarter, so the next one will be sent to all District 7430 active members between October 1st and October 13th. The deadline for this edition will be Sept 30th.
The other change we're making to facilitate submissions throughout the quarter is the use of Google Drive to collect photos, articles, calendar updates and fund-raising efforts. This is the link to use to gain access to the Drive, but if you're not comfortable with Google Drive, reply to the editors of the Vibrant News or "Welcome Aboard" to get help with your submission or to provide content via email.
The most exciting changes are our plans to inject some "friendly competition" into the Vibrant News content by creating these two new sections:
People of Action Photo Competitions every quarter: by the last day of the quarter (for this issue, that is Sept 30th) Club officers or Public Image Committee members should submit a photo showing their club's "Rotarians at Work" on a public service project. Three or four of the best photos will be featured and acknowledged in each VNews quarterly edition.
Club "Fund Raiser" Highlights - Looking ahead at the upcoming quarter (for this issue, Oct - Dec 2021), let the all the clubs in the District know about your big fund raising event by submitting a flyer and a writeup that we can feature in the VNews.
Best Service Project of the Last Quarter - submit a write-up with a brief description of your best project of the previous quarter, including the What, Why and How of your Success Story.
Sign up Today for the 11th Annual Race to ZERO! New this year, we will have the Race to Zero and Oktoberfest on the same day and place. The Race and Oktoberfest will be on October 2nd, 2021 at the Schnecksville Fair Grounds.
The location is right next to the prior year's location of LCCC. This year’s route includes Packhouse Road down and a covered bridge, then back to the start. There are also options for 1 mile, kids race and biking. In the afternoon we will be celebrating our District’s commitment to Ending Polio by celebrating Oktoberfest with food, beverages and entertainment!.
Join us on October 2nd and Let's End Polio!! Sign up to Run, Walk, Bike and Join us afterwards for Oktoberfest! All Proceeds go to the Rotary Foundation Polio Plus!
Walk, Run, Bike:
Registration opens at 8:00 am
Childrens Race at 9:00 am
10K Bike Ride (not timed) at 9:15 am
5k Runners & walker leading at 9:30 am
1 Mile and all others immediately after
Oktoberfest Celebration: 11:30 - 2 pm
Join us after the run for a catered Oktoberfest celebration event at the Fairgrounds Pavilion. Oktoberfest Themed Food: Sausage, Grilled Fish, Pretzels, Potato Dumplings and/or Pancakes, Sauerkraut, Salad, Soft Drinks, Beer, Wine, Mixers, Selfie Booth, Entertainment. Silly Hats
Please join with Rotarians from throughout our district to raise awareness at this year's Race to Zero event
Both Events are Located at the Schnecksville Fair Grounds, Pavilion
The Potato Project provides service opportunities to non-profit organizations to cut seed potatoes and harvest mature potatoes. We cut in April, plant by May and harvest in September. I have been a part of it since about 2010 because friends organize it and created a nonprofit corporation. We grow about 200,000 pounds annually and donate them to Food Banks which in turn supply food pantries. Typically, Rotary Clubs, Rotaract Clubs and Interact Clubs participate. This year we will involve Alumni from the exchange program. Here is a link to the website for The Potato Project: https://sites.google.com/site/ihartharvestinc/home.
This Rotary year, District 7430 plans to be the first Rotary district where every club participates in the effort to provide shelter to families displaced by conflict and natural disaster. We challenge every club to meet or exceed their prior support for ShelterBox, Rotary's partner in global disaster relief. When we succeed, our district will be acknowledged on the ShelterBox USA website, at the 2021 Rotary International Convention in Houston, and at the International Assembly.
You can participate by bringing your donation to the District 7430 Stock the Box event on September 10th at The Steel Club. Tickets ($65) include dinner and dueling pianos entertainment and are on sale at EventBrite (7430stockthebox.eventbrite.com).
Donations can also be sent directly to ShelterBox:
August is Rotary’s Membership and New Club Development Month—it is a perfect “tie-in” to how the Rotary Foundation is a key element to our Club Membership and Developing new clubs. Now,-- why is that?—It is simple.
Every Rotarians, Every Year ( EREY) is the fundraising initiative designed to encourage support for the Foundation’s Annual Fund. EREY aims to engage every Rotary club member by encouraging them to contribute to the Annual fund every year and participate in a Foundation grant or program every year.
When each member of our clubs contributes to the Rotary Foundation supporting EREY, our clubs can implement projects needed in their community as well as internationally. Your club can receive grants to implement your projects that publicly demonstrate the basic principle of Rotary- Doing Good in the World.
Through your Public Image efforts, the community can see all of the great projects in which your club is involved and that will only help you GROW and DEVELOP new members, who desire to be involved in these good works, and will also keep your current members engaged.
Think about:
1. Every member of every club in our District supporting the Rotary Foundation
2. Increased Contributions to the Annual Fund SHARE
3. “Reaping” the benefits with your membership.
Do you have questions about the Rotary Foundation and how you can be involved? Would you like a presentation at your club to find out more? Contact Cindy Hornaman, District 7430 Rotary Foundation Chair at hornamca@ptd.net and we can direct you to the right person.
Interested in meeting other Rotarians internationally? Our district has been meeting with a young group of Rotarians in District 2202 from a club in Barcelona. We have been meeting virtually and our next meet up is Aug. 29 around 11-12pm. If you are interested in joining or would like more information please email Dee or call 610 428 3355.
Terry Reed of the West Reading/Wyomissing Rotary Club. Please contact Terry or me if you care to join this Environmental Sustainability Committee whose mission will be to make a positive difference in our world.
Linda loved her daughters, Ellen and Emily, and her grandchildren, Mya and Leo, all of whom were central in Linda’s world. Professionally, she served as a nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital and became Vice President of Nursing in 1990. Some of her contributions include opening the Priscilla Payne Hurd Wing and Education Center and building partnerships with Moravian College to implement the first B.S. in Nursing program associated with a hospital.
The location is right next to the prior year's location of LCCC. This year’s route includes Packhouse Road down and a covered bridge, then back to the start. There are also options for 1 mile, kids race and biking. In the afternoon we will be celebrating our District’s commitment to Ending Polio by celebrating Oktoberfest with food, beverages and entertainment!. 
