E-clubs pioneer innovative partnerships with local groups

By Zuhal Sharp, Rotary Programs staff

Empowering community members to assess and address their own needs leads to the most effective and sustainable project outcomes. While we often hear about how traditional Rotary clubs work with community members to address local issues, e-clubs are also pioneering innovative approaches to partner with communities on hands-on projects. By sponsoring a Rotary Community Corps (RCC), many e-clubs are expanding their networks and enhancing their service impact.

RCCs are teams of community volunteers who share Rotary’s commitment to service but are not Rotary members. They work in partnership with their sponsor Rotary clubs (traditional clubs or e-clubs) to address their communities’ specific needs. RCCs are highly adaptable and can be found everywhere Rotary is present: in urban and rural areas, and in both developed and developing countries. Some RCCs are established to carry out a specific project for a limited period of time, while others tackle more entrenched problems on an ongoing basis.

As e-clubs have grown in popularity, so have e-club-RCC partnerships. Currently, e-clubs on four continents have sponsored RCCs. Here are some great examples of these partnerships in action:

Putting a new roof on the food bank building.

The Rotary E-Club of District 1100 in England currently sponsors two RCCs, each to address distinct local needs: the RCC of Malmesbury is working to develop flood defenses and establish a food bank while the RCC of Let’s Loop Swindon helps improve the quality of hearing aid loops available in town.
The Rotary E-Club of Lake Atitlán-Panajachel in Guatemala works in partnership with the RCC Peña Blanca 1 to promote the conservation of natural resources in the lake basin through proper management and education of the community.