An
invaluable reserve
September
2006
Friends of the
Foundation:
Ten years ago, I
attended a reception in Chicago held in honor of
the president of Argentina, who was visiting the
city. Among the Chicago-area Argentineans I met
at the event was a doctor who was also director
of one of the city’s largest hospitals. When he
saw my Rotary pin, he told me that he had first
come to the United States about 30 years before
on a Rotary Foundation scholarship for graduate
studies in medicine.
I asked, “Are you
a Rotarian?”
“No,” he replied.
“Did you have any
contact with Rotary or Rotary clubs?”
“Unfortunately, I
never did.”
I was struck by
how we had missed out on extending membership to
this remarkable professional.
This scenario
repeats itself around the world thousands of
times. About 100,500 people have participated
directly in the Foundation’s programs. Of these
Foundation alumni, 37,500 are former
Ambassadorial Scholars (this figure includes
some 180 Rotary World Peace Fellows),
approximately 58,000 participated in Group Study
Exchange (GSE), and close to 5,000 served as
volunteers. The grand total includes
approximately 15,700 Rotarians who participated
as GSE team leaders, Rotary Volunteers, and the
like who have become Rotarians. While we don’t
have accurate statistics, estimate that only 3
percent to 4 percent of non-Rotarian alumni have
joined Rotary. That’s really unbelievable!
The cause of this
significant flaw is sponsoring clubs and
districts that do not follow through on the
Foundation’s generosity. In a recent survey
conducted by RI’s Membership Division, about
two-thirds of the Foundation alumni who
responded expressed interest in becoming
Rotarians. Our alumni are part of the family of
Rotary. RI President Bill Boyd has included in
this year’s Presidential Citation the challenge
to invite at least one Rotary Foundation alumnus
or alumna to join your club — an on-target
decision and an example to be followed.
Ignoring our
alumni is comparable to leaving the ripened
crops in our carefully tended fields unharvested.
We have invested time and money to help them get
ahead in life and advance in their occupations.
In recent years,
The Rotary Foundation has made an emphatic
effort to identify, bring together, acknowledge,
reward, and promote the recruitment of our
program alumni, and much progress has been made.
We now have a strong team of Rotary Foundation
alumni coordinators and a support network in all
of the zones, but we still need everyone’s help
to carry out this complex task.
Therefore, I urge
you all to reflect this month on the enormous
potential, that untapped reserve, available to
us and to think about how we can intensify our
efforts to bring our alumni into the Rotary
fold. They have benefited from Rotary as few
have, and it is time that many more rejoin our
family.
Sincerely,
Luis Vicente Giay
Trustee Chair, The Rotary Foundation, 2006-07
|
