DG Vance's message for November 2012

The month of November in our Rotary calendar is celebrated as Foundation month. Our Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka in his monthly message reminds us of our Foundation’s motto: “Doing Good in the World”. He also reminded us that we can do so much more good through The Foundation than we could ever do alone in order to continue to help people – people just like us.

I would like to reiterate to Rotarians that it is incumbent on us, Rotarians, to ensure that our Foundation remains a strong and viable entity if we are to continue to change people’s life and circumstances. To support our Foundation there is no donation of time and resources too small. Each combines to result in an ocean of help for humanity. We can guarantee the future success of our Foundation by each contributing what we can to the various funds of the Foundation. There are many ways to do this, but at this time I wish to focus on one of the ways of giving.

One of our goals for our District this year, and for the foreseeable future, is to encourage every Rotarian to give something to our Annual Fund. This concept is known as Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY). Many persons in our regional communities and beyond, whose lives we have changed through our Rotary Foundation make sacrifices every day just to make ends meet. As Rotarians, it’s incumbent on us to give up a little to ensure the future viability of the Foundation.

If each of us makes a small sacrifice, then together, we can make a much greater impact than if we tried alone. If we choose to make that sacrifice by giving to the Foundation, then as a District, for the first time ever, we would have 100% of our clubs contributing to our Foundation! Wouldn’t that be a powerful statement by all of our collective voices? It would also mean an organization in which every single member is supporting, and is invested in, the Foundation’s success – making The Rotary Foundation truly Our Foundation; through the magic of collaboration.

I conclude my message by appealing to every Rotarian in this District and elsewhere to change the world a little bit at a time by ensuring that through our individual sacrifices, we can become a collective giant. If we do, we will truly be living the words of the motto of our Rotary Foundation: “Doing Good in the World”.

Peace Through Service,

DG Vance