President's Message
August 26th 2009
Fellow Rotarians:
My fellow Rotarians of the Victoria Rotary Club it is a distinct pleasure and honour to serve as your President for the year 2009-2010. Our club has had a distinguished past and been served by many dedicated presidents since its inception in 1913. The International growth of Rotary from these early years is demonstrated by the fact that there are now 33,000 Rotary Clubs in 170 different countries and the Rotary Club of Victoria, Club 90, is the senior club in our community with a history and wealth of contributions made to charitable causes and individuals.
The financial and service undertakings made by our Club are only achieved by the dedication of the members in generating monies through for example, the annual car raffle and other fund raising activities. It is this “Service above Self”, which distinguishes Rotarians in their contributions to their community. I therefore feel privileged to be a member of the club and in particular, to be serving as your President.
My hope this year is that the club can assist in benefitting vulnerable seniors in the Greater Victoria area. The economic climate has wrought havoc with the many very important programmes that have supported elder care in the past. Consequently many seniors who were dependant on personal contact with a care giver in their home on a daily basis are now denied this important function. Therefore, if Rotary, in association with other charitable organizations can provide some financial assistance in addition to personal contact with these elderly seniors a much needed service will be provided.
A major contribution was made last year to ensuring that children were provided a nutritious breakfast before commencing their studies. This has been shown to be a major contributing factor in improving the educational level achieved by students. In association with another charitable organization this programme was a resounding success and may be supported again this year if a suitable partner can be found.
During the present difficult financial environment the generation of charitable money is difficult and it is increasingly obvious that Rotary is in an enviable situation to obtain greater penetration into the community if we develop cooperative strategies between our Clubs. This was a factor identified by the Strategic Planning Group for our club and your Board will be investigating various options to determine if this is a viable solution in our community. Certainly association with other fund raising groups interested in charitable giving appears to be a must if reasonable levels of financial assistance are to be given to our major projects.
Whilst this year may prove to be difficult financially, Rotary as an organization, has proven its ability to rise against adversity through its determination to eradicate polio and other world wide projects, which at first appeared insurmountable. However if there is a will there is a way and, in my opinion Rotary has the will and the way. We should remember that our Rotary International President, John Kenny has adopted the theme “The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands”, and our District Governor Harold “Alex” Alexander believes that we all should be “Fulfilling Dreams”.
Let our Club live by these thoughts and ensure that we have “FUN” doing it.
Best Wishes to All
Keith Walker
President 2009 - 10
|
