It is a tremendous honor for me to be elected President of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque and I am very humbled. It is also a responsibility that I do not take lightly and I will do my best to uphold the traditions, values and prestige of Rotary International and the RCA. I appreciate the training that Rotary has afforded me to prepare for my role as President and I hope to build on the accomplishments of past presidents, Boards of Directors, and Rotarians.
This year’s Rotary International theme is “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.” I think that translates to looking within ourselves and reaching out to others to make a difference in our community and the world. We can do that. Rotary is an honored and powerful organization that has achieved much locally and worldwide and we can build on those achievements and become an even greater organization. The Rotary Club of Albuquerque has a long and rich history and has a strong platform for continuing success and keeping with the motto of “Service above Self.” We, as Rotarians, also need to internalize and practice the core values of Rotary which include: Fellowship, Integrity, Service, Diversity, Ethics and Leadership.
There are several goals that I would like to focus on and achieve this year. As in the past, we need to concentrate on increasing our membership. New members are the very life blood of our organization. As you probably are aware, organizations like ours lose about 10% of their membership annually. For us that translates to between 20 to 25 new members per year just to maintain our current membership levels. Membership, of course, is tied to revenue; so for our club to serve our community, we must maintain a viable membership. During the Large Club Conference and the Rotary International Conference, a great deal of emphasis by our District Governor, and the current and subsequent President of RI, was placed on the importance of getting younger members into Rotary. Those younger members are the leadership of the future and we need them in our club. We must direct and concentrate our recruiting efforts to include bringing younger folks into RCA. We have a great deal to offer potential members. We have a terrific speaker program, opportunity to do meaningful projects that impact on our community, and the opportunity for good fun and fellowship with the outstanding members of our club.
Public Relations is another area where we can continue to improve. Rotary clubs worldwide, as well as our own club, do wonderful things. Yet a lot of the general public is unaware of what Rotary is and what it does, how many organizations are supported and the number of projects that we have been supporting both financially and through volunteerism. We shall build on what has been done in the past and take steps to “toot our own horn” and make the RCA and our accomplishments better known.
The RCA and District 5520 are fully committed to the goal of “Ending Polio Now.” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been partnering with Rotary clubs around the world to totally eradicate this terrible disease. The Gates Foundation has donated over one billion dollars to Rotary International’s goal of ending polio. During the recent RI convention, Bill Gates announced that eliminating polio is the number one priority for their Foundation. We as a club are committed to maintaining our support for this goal and joining with the 1.2 million Rotarians to ensure polio is eliminated. We are “this close.” Let’s complete that task.
It was stated during the RI convention that the role of a club president is to ensure that every member has a “job” within the club. We have over 40 committees on which our members can serve. We expect all new members to join at least one committee to speed their integration into RCA and that works well. Member participation in our club activities really helps to ensure an outstanding organization and I ask for your support in that endeavor.
Rotary incorporates fellowship, service, and fun. We are able to enjoy all of these and more during our weekly luncheon meetings, our committee meetings, our community projects and the many opportunities we have to get together for terrific fun activities. I have always enjoyed the fun component of RCA and we will continue to ensure that good times will continue to be incorporated into our Rotary activities. I ask you to join me in sharing the values and goals of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque and ensure that the RCA continues to be an outstanding service organization.
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