I hope, since my last article in this Digest, that your club has considered recognizing a business or profession in your community with some type of acknowledgement for their contributions, if you are not already doing that. It certainly doesn’t have to be done every month, but how about considering doing it twice a year?
Our international organization was founded on the principles of Vocational Service. Paul Harris, when he founded our organization in 1905, made it a point to collaborate with three of his closest friends, all involved in a service to the community, to meet regularly and rotate those meetings on a regular basis. I became enamored with these service principles when I joined Rotary in 1973. As a general dentist for over 40 years, I was touched by the many patients who would come to me for their dental emergencies, stating that they didn’t have a lot of money. They just wanted me to get them out of pain. That’s when I realized that providing my professional services to some without charge, was my calling, here and abroad; so, I decided to sign up for volunteer work overseas supported by Rotary’s 3-H Grants. And what overwhelming experiences they were! I made 13 trips between 1984 and 2010, first to the Philippines and the next 12 to Brazil. To me, this is what Vocational Service was all about. And it eventually became my mantra. Vocations ARE important for many reasons: It recognizes members for their expertise in their specific fields of endeavor; it gives our clubs the opportunity to tap into these members’ exceptional talents; and, it serves to promote our cause to non-members hoping they may join Rotary too!
DG Judy, as do I, want to bring the recognition Vocational Service deserves to D5330. Of the 5 Avenues of Service, Vocational Service has been the least understood. And we hope to change that this year by getting ALL of our tremendously busy clubs involved in this endeavor. I am here to serve and assist you as this year’s District Vocational Service chair. At the end of this Rotary year, DG Judy will be recognizing a business/profession with the R.A.V.E. Award (Rotary Award for Vocational Excellence). In order to do that, your club needs to submit an application. I will be explain to you how it is done in a subsequent article in this publication! Let’s all get to work to make that happen.
Thank You,
Bill Chase, PDG
Vocational Service Chair