Rotary
Int'l President Gary C.K. Huang's
August
2014 Message
AUGUST 2014 Messages:
"Dear fellow Rotarians,
I never imagined I would become Rotary International's
president when I joined in 1976, but now that I am in office, I
hope to increase membership to 1.3 million by the end of my term.
It's simple. The more members we have, the
more people we can help. A stronger membership base will result
in stronger communities," says Huang, who on 1 July became
Rotary's first Chinese president.
Huang also hopes his presidential theme, Light
Up Rotary, will encourage members to brighten Rotary's image to
the public, which he believes in return will improve member recruitment
and retention.
Huang has a track record of improving membership
development in Asia, adding 19 clubs when he was district governor
for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. One of the cornerstones of his
presidency is encouraging clubs and districts to conduct a Rotary
Day. These one-day events, he says, can spotlight a particular cause,
and solidify Rotary's image as one of the world's leading service
organizations.
"We need to showcase our good work to
everyone in the community. Rotary Days need to be fun and all inclusive.
Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to participate. My hope
is at the end of the day a few non-members will want to join Rotary,"
he says. "Let's give people the opportunity to experience what
it's like to make a difference. Rotary Days can achieve that."
Huang designed a travel schedule that will
allow him to visit more than 30 Rotary Day events across the globe,
including Argentina, Chile, France, India, Italy, Korea, Malaysia,
Philippines, and the U.S., as well as his home city of Taipei.
Huang says he's honored and humbled to be
Rotary's president. He knows he's part of an exclusive club. "We
[past Rotary presidents] have achieved great success in our businesses
and in our communities," says Huang. "But success isn't
about power or money. It's about giving back. Being a Rotarian has
given me the opportunity to help those in need. As president, I
can inspire our members to take advantage of the same opportunity
and bring happiness in people's lives."
Funding gaps - Huang says Rotary
members are never short on ideas and innovative ways to solve problems,
but funding gaps prevent many of these projects from taking off.
For instance, Rotary members in Korea, Japan, and China are strong
fundraisers, but struggle to help each other use the funds because
of distance and language barriers, Huang says.
"I want to show Rotarians why I am their
president," he adds. "The best way to do that is to see
and inspire their work, participate in their projects, and help
them raise funds. I want to, along with my district governors, reach
out and try to link different clubs from different countries together
so we can find the right communities in need," he adds. "That's
one of the great things about being an international organization:
the ability to bring different cultures and backgrounds together
to find a common cause."
Gary
C.K. Huang
President, Rotary International 2014-15
============================
Rotary
International Foundation Chair John Kenny
Trustee Chair 2014 - 15
RI Trustee Chair's monthly message - August
2014-
This Year, We Must Finish the Job!.
Almost three decades ago, we Rotarians made
a choice to give something far more important than money. We chose
to give our word – our word that we would eradicate the poliovirus
and create a future free of the disease.
But we haven't yet kept that word. We haven't yet made the earth
polio-free. And in the words of Henry Ford, "You can't build
a reputation on what you are going to do."
In Rotary, we have been saying for many years
that we are going to eliminate polio. It is my hope that there will
soon come a time when we will be able to say that we've done it.
Rotarians throughout the world have been walking
this road for many years. Polio eradication has been part of Rotary
for decades now. We talk about it, we work toward it, and we've
raised money for it – a great deal of money, over more than
one campaign already. And now we are asking our fellow Rotarians,
and being asked ourselves, to do and give more.
We recognize that there will be those who
feel they have given enough already to the cause of polio eradication
– those who feel we have done enough, and that it is time
to move on. To those I say: If we pause, if we slacken now, if we
say "almost" is the same as "did," we risk losing
all that we have already given. We risk our own good name and the
good name of all the Rotarians who came before us.
This is something that we as Rotarians cannot
and will not accept. We must continue until we finish the job.
John Kenny
Trustee Chair 2014 - 15
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