Service in Action

By Rotary Service and Engagement

Throughout the month of August, Rotary Membership and New Club Development month, we’re celebrating our clubs, members, and all the good they do in their communities and around the world. While we join Rotary for many varied reasons, we remain because of the value it adds to our lives. Through the friends we make and the lives we impact, Rotary offers us opportunities to engage with a global community and make a positive difference.

We encourage you to make the most of your membership through the many activities and programs available to the Rotary family. Learn more below.

• Discover new cultures and make friends all over the world through Rotary Friendship Exchange. Contact your district’s Rotary Friendship Exchange chair to get involved.
• Explore your passions and hobbies with fellow Rotarians by joining a Rotary Fellowship.
• Foster intercultural understanding through an intercountry committee. An ICC promotes peace and friendship and strengthens relationships between two countries.
• Attend a project fair to support an international service effort while learning about another culture.

• Collaborate with experts from a Rotarian Action Group or lend your expertise to empower Rotary members on how to make sure their service projects make a lasting impact.
• Sponsor a Rotary Community Corps (RCC) to engage members of the community you’re working in. This can also make your project more sustainable, because it positions local leaders to pioneer change— through your project, and in the future.
• Work with your district community, international, and vocational service chairs to enhance your service initiatives.

Rotary’s  Project Lifecycle Kit consists of Discussion Groups, Rotary Ideas, and Rotary Showcase — resources that can contribute to the success of any service project, from inception to completion. Join or start a conversation related to an area of interest in a Rotary discussion group on My Rotary. Find support for a project at Rotary Ideas, and share your project successes at Rotary Showcase to inspire others and promote collective efforts to improve communities around the world.

Working with partners can strengthen club and district service projects by ensuring sustainability, providing access to subject-matter experts, and strengthening local networks. Rotary’s service and project partners support Rotarian-led initiatives within the avenues of service and areas of focus. Consider partnering with one of Rotary’s service partners to create a greater impact in your community:

• Ashoka to partner with change-makers worldwide to help them find creative solutions to social problems.
• Habitat for Humanity to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
• International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) to design and implement projects that improve access to quality eye care services.
• Peace Corps to promote peace and enhance community development.
• Mediators Beyond Borders to help mediate resolutions in communities with conflict.
• ShelterBox to help provide disaster relief.