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Hayward Sunset Rotary Club |
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The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset
The purpose of this brochure is to acquaint you with some basic information about Rotary International, The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset, and being a member of The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset. What is Rotary?
"Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world."
The above definition has been adopted by Rotary International but each Rotarian will express it differently as they grow, live, feel, and recognize Rotary as a world fellowship of business and professional people. The essence of Rotary is the club. Each club is an individual group of men and women from many occupations and professions dedicated to being of service to their community and fellow man. What it means to be a Rotarian
Being a Rotarian means making a commitment of time and energy. The rewards generally equal or surpass the level of commitment. To become a Rotarian is to join an organization whose members make an important difference in the quality of life in the community - and worldwide. It is a doorway to a unique network, linked by fellowship and spanning the globe. Being a Rotarian means being able to enrich the lives of others, while enjoying yourself in the company of your peers. History of Rotary
The Rotary movement spread quickly throughout the United States with the formation of the second club in San Francisco in 1908 and the third club in 1909 in Oakland, California. The first club outside the U.S. was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1910, and Rotary became truly international with the formation of the Rotary clubs of Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1912. By 1996, there were more than 28,000 Rotary clubs with some 1.2 million Rotarians in 155 countries and 34 geographical regions.
As the world's first association of service clubs, Rotary International also paved the way for several other well-known organizations. It was the forerunner of Kiwanis International and Lions International, founded in 1915 and 1917, respectively. In addition, Rotary laid the foundation for other humanitarian organizations. In 1920, Ohio Rotarians founded the Society for Crippled Children. UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization grew out of a Rotary conference. Rotary International was one of the few non-governmental organizations invited by the U.S. Department of State to serve as consultant to the U.N.'s charter conference in 1945 and played a significant role, of 200 delegates, 50 where Rotarians.
The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International: The Rotary Foundation is a vehicle for the purpose of doing good in the world in charitable, educational, and other avenues of community progress. The fund received its first contribution in 1918 ($26.50) and following the death of Paul Harris in 1947, Rotarians contributed $1.3 million to the Foundation in honor of Rotary's founder. This tradition of support for the Foundation's programs continues today. Those who contribute at least $1,000 to the Annual Program Fund or for whom $1,000 is donated are, upon request, recognized as Paul Harris Fellows. There are more than 537,000 Paul Harris Fellows worldwide and by 1996, contributions to the Foundation totaled more than $889 million. The funds are held for three years before the principal is allocated to Rotary's worldwide educational, medical and humanitarian programs which allow the earned interest to cover the funds operational expenses.
Also, part of the Foundation is the Permanent Fund, which is built from planned gifts, bequests, and substantial outright gifts. Only the income from these gifts is used to fund Foundation programs. The principal remains untouched, providing program support in perpetuity. Permanent Fund donors are recognized as Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation.
In 1985, The Foundation launched a program unparalleled in Rotary's history - PolioPlus. The program is a commitment to help protect all the children of the world against polio and eradicate the disease by the year 2000, with certification of eradication by 2005, Rotary's 100th anniversary. Rotarians around the globe have committed $275 million, much of it by their own personal contributions, and have given countless hours of time in the battle to eradicate polio. In 1994, Rotary International and its partners - the World Health Organization, UNICEF, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national governments, and others - celebrated the elimination of polio in the entire Western hemisphere.
The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset
Out of September 11th tragedy a club is born
Chartered exactly a year and 48 hours from the day of the terrifying events, the club boasts a membership that is more than 90 percent Afghan. As residents tried to make sense of the attacks, Sophia Omar, the club's charter president, spent many hours discussing the return of peace in post-Taliban Afghanistan with the patrons at her restaurant. By coincidence, Bill stone, one of them, was a Rotarian. "He told me that the things -- such as orphanages, schools, and clinics -- we aimed to do through De Solay Daywa Foundation (The Torch of Peace) for Afghanistan, a nonprofit I founded, sounded like a laundry list of Rotary projects, and suggested that I should join a club," she said. With Stone's encouragement, Omar attended meetings of the Rotary clubs of Foster City, Pleasanton and Fremont Niles. Having vivid memories of how factional strife and foreign interests destroyed Afghanistan, she liked what she heard about Rotary International being a non-political organization geared towards peace and service-above-self. These contacts snowballed into a decision to form a new Rotary club. But initially, many prospective members weren't sure that this would be any different from past dead ends they had run into. But eventually, the testimonies of Persian-speaking Rotarians swayed even the staunchest skeptics. Soon, the 41-member club started holding meetings, planning projects, and raising funds. In addition to sponsoring a free weekly clinic run by Rotarian doctors in the Fremont City area for Afghan immigrants without medical insurance, the Hayward Sunset club is working with CARE, Women of Hope, and other nonprofits to establish in Kabul, Afghanistan, an outpatient clinic, a 20-bed hospital, a garment shop, and a secretarial training school to serve the Central Asian country's orphans, widows, and jobless. "From the day I put my feet in this organization, I have experienced an incredible support from Rotarians," Sophia said. "Our group is full of energy and ready to cooperate with other Rotary clubs to serve humanity." "The charter of this club is a wonderful development," said District 5170 Governor Bradford Howard. "Its success will serve as a model for extension of Rotary into other immigrant communities in the Bay Area, the rest of the U.S., and even non-Rotary countries."
How Rotary Serves
Rotary International: Every Rotarian has a wealth of worthwhile opportunities to serve others through his or her Rotary club. These "opportunities for service" are categorized as the four "Avenues of Service" - Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. Additionally, The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset and many other clubs have a fifth avenue of service - Youth Service. Rotarians serve on committees within the "Avenue of Service." The key to a successful club is effective club committees with clearly defined purpose. All members are required to be a member of one or more club committees. Committees are NOT as humorist Fred Allen once put it, "A group of people who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide that nothing can be done." Instead, committees are intended to foster the old Chinese proverb: "Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me and I'll understand."
How to Become a Member of the Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset
Rotary club membership is by invitation only, and each club member should represent a cross-section of the business and professional community in which it functions. With a Rotarian Sponsor one completes a Membership Proposal Form and attends a Rotary Information meeting. After receipt of a formal application form, the Membership and Classification Committees will verify ones occupation, agree that one holds an important position in ones firm, agree that one is an outstanding leader in ones vocation, and agree that the classification being loaned to one is not already represented in our club and verifies one either works or resides within the club's territorial limits, or those of an adjoining club, or due to time constraint find it difficult to keep up attendance, may join the Hayward Sunset club. If the Board of Directors, after reviewing these findings, approves applications of membership, they then go to the entire club membership for approval.
The Classification Principle
The classification principle developed by Rotary's founding members stipulates that Rotary clubs should have only one active representative of each business or profession within the community (an additional active membership maybe approved if agreed to by the individual who has been assigned the classification). This policy of a balanced membership remains a basic tenet of Rotary, enabling the club to be a true microcosm of the community's business and professional life, fostering a fellowship based on diversity of interest brought together to attain a common goal of service.
Your Obligations in Rotary
The financial and time commitments of Rotary membership vary from year to year, person to person, and president to president. An Initiation Fee covers Directories, Membership Certificate, Rotary pin, Rotary badge, Rotary information literature, and the monthly Rotarian Magazine. The club annual dues is recommended by the Budget Committee to cover overhead expenses and is approved by the Board of Directors and is voted on by all club members at a club assembly.
The weekly lunch fee covers the meeting room, program, fellowship, and food. A 'coffee fee' covers the meeting room, program, and fellowship. It is traditional in Rotary for a club member to be "fined" or "recognized" in a positive and fun manner with these funds being included in the club budget.
We are a 100% Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member Club ($100 per member per year). A voluntary Foundation campaign is held each November. If a member cannot contribute a minimum of $ 100, then the club will cover the donation so we continue to be a 100% Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member Club.
Service on a club committee is mandatory (we are a 'service club') and the time commitments vary from committee to committee. The club meets for a weekly evening program from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. Regular attendance is a condition of membership. A Rotarian must attend or make-up at least 60% of a club meetings in any six month period. Collectively, the members of The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset average 80 percent attendance. Absences due to ill health or extended travel in a non-Rotary country are excused. Rotarians can "make-up" a missed meeting by attending Interact or Rotaract meetings, Board of Directors meetings, or the meeting of another club anyplace in the world within 14 days before or after the absence.
Your Privileges in Rotary
· The privilege of friendship and fellowship with leaders in your community, in neighboring cities, throughout the USA and in all parts of the Free World, through your privilege of attendance at ANY Rotary Club.
· Your membership is the Key in the Free World where there is a Rotary Club, and includes the privilege of bringing a guest to any meeting.
· The privilege of expressing oneself through Service.
· The privilege of participating in the development of international good will and understanding.
· The privilege of helping build higher ethical standards within your vocation and to gain an understanding of others' vocations.
· The privilege and opportunity, through the variety of weekly programs, to enlarge one's knowledge.
· Through the common bond of Rotary, these privileges can be yours by your participation.
Rotarians and Rotary clubs are encouraged to follow a standard of excellence called:
"The 4-Way Test"
Of things we think, say or do
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
How Rotary Operates
Rotary is organized at the club, district, and international levels to carry out its program of service around the globe. A Rotarian is a member of his or her Rotary club, and the club is a member of the association known as Rotary International. Each club elects its own officers and board of directors and enjoys considerable autonomy within the framework of its constitution and the R.I. Constitution and Bylaws. Rotary clubs, in turn, are grouped together into Rotary districts (ours is District 5170 with 58 clubs in Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties), each led by a district governor who is an officer of R.I. and represents the R.I. Board of Directors in the field. Additionally, a district may subdivide into "Areas" (ours is Area 11) with an Area Representative appointed by the District Governor.
Rotary clubs are organized according to the "Standard Rotary Club Constitution" which is updated every three years by the Council on Legislation (Rotary's parliament). Each Rotary club operates by "Club Bylaws" which are in harmony with the R.I. Constitution and recommended club bylaws and are approved by the club membership. Every year on July 1st, EVERY position in Rotary from the president of Rotary International; the district governor; the club president; club officers; and board members; club committee chairs; and members of club committees; CHANGE. You may not want to run your company in this manner but this system keeps Rotary "fresh," "stimulating," and "challenging" to the members.
The Object of Rotary
The compass that guides Rotary service is a set of principles called the Object of Rotary, set forth as follows:
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
First: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
Second: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
Third: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
Fourth: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
Declaration of Rotarians in Business and Professions
As a Rotarian engaged in a business or profession, I am expected to:
1. Consider my vocation to be another opportunity to serve;
2. Be faithful to the letter and to the spirit of the ethical codes of my vocation, to the laws of my country, and to the moral standard of my community;
3. Do all in my power to dignify my vocation and to promote the highest ethical standards in my chosen vocation;
4. Be fair to my employer, employees, associates, competitors, customers, the public, and all those with whom I have a business or professional relationship;
5. Recognize the honor and respect due to all occupations which are useful to society;
6. Offer my vocational talents to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community;
7. Adhere to honesty in my advertising and in all representations to the public concerning my business or profession;
8. Neither seek from nor grant to a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship.
Any Questions?
Hopefully, this brochure has sketched the Rotary movement and created numerous questions for the non-Rotarian interested in being a member of The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset. Formal Rotary Information meetings may be scheduled by the Membership Committee to expand on these and other Rotary topics and to answer specific questions. Your Rotarian Sponsor will help you complete the Membership Proposal Form prior to attending a Rotary Information Meeting. After the Rotary Information Meeting the Rotarian Sponsor will discuss the formal application for membership to The Rotary Club of Hayward Sunset. Rotary Programs
The Rotary motto "Service Above Self," is the thread that runs throughout the Rotary world and unites like-minded people in thought and actions. A second motto, "He Profits Most Who Serves Best" is another proud slogan of Rotarians around the world.
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