WHAT IS ROTARY?

Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 166 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs.

WHO ARE MEMBERS AND HOW OFTEN DO THEY MEET?

Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP IN A ROTARY CLUB?

Membership in a Rotary club offers a number of benefits, including:

• Effecting change within the community.
• Developing leadership skills.
• Gaining an understanding of - and having an impact on - community and international issues.
• Developing relationships with community and business leaders.

Through Rotary's various service programs, a Rotary club can have a significant effect on the quality of life in its community.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN A ROTARY CLUB?

An important distinction between Rotary and other organizations is that membership in Rotary is by invitation. Prospective members must:

• hold - or be retired from - a professional, proprietary, executive, or managerial position;
• have the capacity to meet the club's weekly attendance or community project participation requirements;
• live or work within the locality of the club or the surrounding area.

WHAT IS A PRIMARY GOAL OF A ROTARY CLUB?

A primary goal of a Rotary club is to continually expand the club with committed members who have the interest and ability to get involved in service to community and humanitarian projects.

WHAT IS THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESS?

Often a person being considered for membership is invited by a member or sponsor to attend one or more club meetings to learn more about Rotary. The sponsor may then submit the name of the candidate to the club's membership committee.

WHAT IS AN "ACTIVE" MEMBER?

The Rotary Club of Healdsburg defines an active member as a Rotarian who:

1. Attends, or makes up, at least 60% of all meetings each quarter, and
2. Is in financial good standing with the club. This means having paid when due and payable:

A. All meeting fees and membership dues,
B. Missed meeting fees for all meetings that are neither attended nor made up, and
C. All assessed fees and obligations (e.g. Crab Feed commitments, agreed-upon fines, etc.)

I AM INTERESTED IN MEMBERSHIP, BUT DO NOT KNOW A ROTARIAN IN TOWN. HOW CAN I BECOME A ROTARIAN?

An individual who is interested in membership, but doesn't know any Rotarians can contact the local club directly. The Rotary Club of Healdsburg maintains an address of PO Box 671, Healdsburg, CA, 95448.

Other resources include a Rotary club in an adjoining community, the local chamber of commerce, the public library, or other non-profit service organizations.

WHAT IS THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF ROTARY?

The main objective of Rotary is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational and career development. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

HOW DID ROTARY GET STARTED?

The world's first service club, Rotary began with the formation of the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, on February 23, 1905. The club was started by a young lawyer, Paul P. Harris, and three of his friends. He wished to recapture the friendly spirit he had felt among business people in the small town where he had grown up. Their weekly meetings "rotated" among their offices, thereby providing the new service club with its name.

WHEN AND WHERE DOES THE ROTARY CLUB OF HEALDSBURG MEET?

The Rotary Club of Healdsburg conducts a luncheon meeting weekly on Monday at 12:15PM at the Masonic Temple, 304 Center Street, Healdsburg.

WHAT IS ROTARY'S UNITED SERVICE PROGRAM?

Although Rotary clubs develop autonomous service programs, all Rotarians worldwide are united in a campaign for the global eradication of polio. In the 1980s, Rotarians raised $240 million to immunize the children of the world; by 2005, Rotary's centenary year and the target date for the certification of a polio-free world, the PolioPlus program will have contributed $500 million to this cause. In addition, Rotary has provided an army of volunteers to promote and assist at national immunization days in polio-endemic countries around the world.

WHAT IS THE ROTARY FOUNDATION?

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes world understanding through international humanitarian service programs and educational and cultural exchanges. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and others who share its vision of a better world. Since 1947, the Foundation has awarded more than US$1.1 billion in humanitarian and educational grants, which are initiated and administered by local Rotary clubs and districts.

HOW IS ROTARY ORGANIZED?

Rotary is organized at club, district, and international levels to carry out its program of service. Rotarians are members of their clubs, and the clubs are members of the global association known as Rotary International. Each club elects its own officers and enjoys considerable autonomy within the framework of the standard constitution and the constitution and bylaws of Rotary International.

HOW ARE CLUBS GROUPED?

Clubs are grouped into 530 Rotary districts, each led by a district governor who is an officer of Rotary International and represents the RI board of directors in the field. Though selected by the clubs of the district, a governor is elected by all of the clubs worldwide meeting in the RI Convention.

DOES ROTARY WORK WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS?

Throughout its history, Rotary International has collaborated with many civic and humanitarian organizations as well as government agencies in its efforts to improve the human condition. An excellent example of what these partnerships can accomplish can be found in Rotary's ambitious PolioPlus program. Launched in 1985 in concert with the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and UNICEF, Rotary's goal is to immunize every child in the world against polio by the year 2005. Rotary brought to the effort millions of volunteers to assist in vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and logistical help at the local, national, regional, and international levels.

WHERE DID "THE FOUR WAY TEST" COME FROM?

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word code of ethics for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy.

WHAT IS ROTARY'S CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM?

Rotary uses a classification system to establish and maintain a vibrant cross-section or representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional interests among members and to develop a pool of resources and expertise to successfully implement service projects. This system is based on the founders' paradigm of choosing cross-representation of each business, profession, and institution within a community.

A classification describes either the principal business or the professional service of the organization that the Rotarian works for or the Rotarian's own activity within the organization. Some examples of classifications include: wine making, health care management, banking, pharmaceutical-retailing, petroleum-distribution, and insurance agency.

I'M INTERESTED IN JOINING, WHAT CAN I DO NOW?

If you're interested in joining the Rotary Club of Healdsburg. Tell us a little about yourself and one of our members will contact you. E-mail us at Richard.Dow.Hbg@att.net, or call Richard Dow at (707) 477-6419. Or drop us a line at PO Box 671, Healdsburg, CA 95448.