Over the last week or two I've learned a few things about what the members of our club value and, in a couple cases, what they may not.
At the service project for FDRD I saw a group of Rotarians who were willing to put in a great deal of physical effort to assist in the construction of a replacement bridge for one that had rotted out. Clearly those club members valued the maintenance of the trail (or they just felt like spending a Friday morning performing fairly taxing physical labor, though I heard no one professing that motivation).
Earlier that same week we had a great turnout of volunteers to work at the Community Dinner. Once again I could see the active participation of our members reflecting the fact that they value that long-standing program.
And this past Tuesday we had a very enlightening and entertaining presentation by Thane Varble about his Youth Exchange year in Austria. From the comments around the room it was apparent that most members enjoyed the presentation and saw value in the exchange program. As further evidence there also were present two inbound exchange students from this year.
Just one problem. David Preaus needs to step down from his position leading the Youth Exchange program and at this point we do not have a replacement. I am expecting that someone (or a couple someones) will step forward because they see the value of the program and want it to continue. If not, then the club as an entity will have spoken about the value it places on that program.
A similar situation recently developed in regard to fundraising. Last year we decided to abolish the car raffle due to lack of people volunteering to sell tickets. The plan was to replace the lost revenue with other fundraising activities. To the extent that we do not come up with replacement funds, the Charitable Fund will replace up to a year's worth of revenue in the first year and then two-thirds and one-third in the second and third years, respectively.
At a recent meeting, it was reported that a number of revenue-generating ideas were suggested and evaluated, but there was only one for which someone stepped forward to serve as a champion and lead the effort. Others have not been pursued for lack of anyone to lead them. As one person put it, the club membership has spoken: it does not want to pursue these efforts.
The current plan then is to see how much more money we can generate from our other sources and some new ideas that have been brought forward, primarily how to generate new donations. If those ideas do not pan out, the first year's lost revenue is covered. In the second year only two-thirds is covered and in the third year one-third. If the new revenues and those subsidies are not enough to match the car raffle revenue, then we will need to cut our expenditures.
So when I speak about what we value, I am talking about the things we care about enough to act on. Without a new leader Youth Exchange cannot continue. Without actions to raise additional revenues we will have to cut back spending on some programs.
In light of all this, I think now is a good time for each of us to think about what we value in the club and decide what we are willing to do to see that the programs and projects we care about will continue. I have great faith in our club's membership. I firmly believe that we have people willing to do what is needed so that we will not need to cut back on any of the important work the club does. I trust you will all prove me right.
Keep the faith,
David
Frisco Senior center
