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Dear Fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends,
As I look back on 2020, I reflect on how our lives have changed.
The global COVID-19 pandemic brought pain and loss to many of us.
And for almost all of us, our daily lives, family time, and work
also changed this year. But we've made it to the end of this difficult
year, not on our own but by reaching out to one another, as we always
do in Rotary. With each passing year, I become prouder of our organization.
I will choose to remember 2020 as a year of great
change and strength for us; Rotary didn't stop, despite the pandemic.
We removed obstacles, found new ways to connect, and embraced new
approaches to service, such as online projects and virtual fundraising.
I have invited two Rotarians to share their stories about how Rotary
grew stronger this year.
When the pandemic shut everything down, our emerging
e-club was already providing digital service, including internationally.
Fourteen U.S. women and I, members of multiple Rotary clubs, were
using WhatsApp to mentor women entrepreneurs in rural Costa Rica,
helping them to grow their ecotourism business, RETUS Tours [the
subject of the magazine's May cover story, "Nature & Nurture"].
The project has grown, with 30 Rotarians now providing consulting
and help with the RETUS website and social media. Most importantly,
we continue building relationships and empowering these women to
transform their own lives, and we are doing it online. I've even
helped one of the women, Rosa, prepare a presentation in English
for an online international conference. While our engagement with
the Costa Rican women still requires some hands-on activity, the
most transformative impacts haven't had to be in person.
— Liza Larson, Rotary E-Club Engage
and Rotary Club of Plano East, Texas
I was president of my club when COVID-19 hit, and
many members didn't yet have Zoom. Only 10 of our 53 members participated
in the first Zoom meeting during the pandemic. I thought that reaching
out and getting guest speakers from around the world to engage our
members would help. Many Rotary leaders, a Rotary Peace Fellow,
and even RI President Holger Knaack visited virtually and spoke
to our club. Meeting attendance improved, while we reduced running
costs by cutting out meals. Some members who worked outside our
city and had missed our meetings even rejoined us. Registering our
online meetings on My Rotary enhanced contacts with clubs across
the world, and the joint meeting addressed by Holger attracted more
than 300 visitors. We also raised more funds as members and visitors
contributed to our projects. To continue being flexible for all,
we are now offering hybrid meetings. For me, 2020 has been the best
year in Rotary as I've made many new friends.
— Blessing Michael, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt North,
Nigeria
These stories should give us all reasons to be optimistic
about Rotary in the year ahead. We are not just surviving; we are
gaining strength. We are discovering how resilient our organization
truly is. We are seeing for ourselves how Rotary Opens Opportunities
— even during pandemics — to grow, connect, and engage
our members and the communities we serve.
From our home in Ratzeburg to yours, Susanne and I
would like to bid you and your family the warmest of season's greetings.
We can't wait to see the good things that 2021 will bring.
HOLGER KNAACK
President 2020-21
Trustee Chair's Message - Dec.
2020
K.R. Ravindran
Rotary Club of Colombo
Western Province, Sri Lanka
Trustee chair's message
On a foggy Christmas Eve in Victorian London, the
old miser sits at his desk.
Bitter and disillusioned with the world,
Ebenezer Scrooge has only one interest: his bottom
line. He declines his nephew's invitation to Christmas
dinner, refuses to support the poor and deprived,
and reluctantly grants his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit,
time off for Christmas Day.
After he arrives home, strange things
begin to happen. Jacob Marley, his deceased business
partner, appears as a ghost tethered to a chain, telling
Scrooge to change his self-centered ways, lest he
meet the same fate.
That is the premise of A Christmas Carol,
Charles Dickens' classic tale of a man's transformation
from hardened recluse to generous humanitarian. To
me, it offers valuable lessons for all, regardless
of belief or time of year.
In one of my favorite passages, a spirit
magically transports Scrooge to the Cratchit household.
There, he sees his clerk from a new vantage point,
observing a humble but heartfelt holiday gathering.
Scrooge then understands that gifts like friendship,
family, and gratitude can't be recorded into any ledger.
By the end of the story, Scrooge has learned the most
important lesson of all: that as long as we are still
alive, it's not too late to devote ourselves to serving
humankind.
The year-end holidays are upon us. It
is a time of giving and sharing, but it is not limited
to our loved ones. It is also for the people we have
never met and will never see, for those who are not
so fortunate as we and could use a helping hand. The
miracle of giving that Scrooge discovered on Christmas
Eve is exactly what The Rotary Foundation does 365
days a year.
Our Foundation serves simultaneously
as charity and performer in the field; Rotarians are
on the ground, volunteering their skills and business
expertise in support of grants that are funded by
you. In this way, we carry out some of Rotary's most
important work, such as protecting mothers and their
babies and helping communities recover from the shocks
of COVID-19.
Please remember The Rotary Foundation
during this season of generosity. Remember that your
gifts to the Foundation amplify our work in all areas
of focus. They are perpetuated, not just today but
long after we are gone. And the Foundation will continue
to work its miracles in service to others tomorrow
as long as we keep supporting it today. On behalf
of The Rotary Foundation Trustees, I thank you for
sending your generous contribution before 31 December.
http://www.endpolio.org/donate.
K.R. Ravindran
Trustee Chair 2020-21
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