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Happy New Year!
We are now officially in the calendar year of our 100th Anniversary, 2021, so hear we go! It is hard to imagine what it was like for the founders of our club a century ago, but it is exciting to focus on the inspiration offered from our centennial celebration committee, “Beginning Our Second Century of Service, 1921-2021”. I believe organizations that remain successful for 100 years, have to focus on their strengths, what they do better than anyone else. However, having a focus on what we do better than anyone else doesn’t mean we always have to do it the same way. That is a great question for us all to ponder… “What do we do better than anyone else?”.
Service, clearly service has to be at the top of the list of answers to that question. Regarding service, I know we have innovated over the years to serve locally and globally and adapt to the ways we can have the most impact. Rotary International has certainly changed the global grants process in the past and that continues recently, and guess what, our Global Grants team has been working with RI to innovate. How else can we innovate in the ways we serve?
Membership is definitely another strength of ours, I am not sure we can always do what we have always done in this area. I am confident our membership has been and continues to be a strength of ours. The Rotary Club of Ames reputation remains strong in our community and it is largely because of our members that remain active in their vocations, and in their community involvement activities. What else can we do to adapt our membership and our member engagement efforts to our changing community?
There have been a lot of inspirational messages about ringing in the new year this year, so I am not sure I can top those. Tremendous challenges have been a part of this past year for many of us (most of us), and I believe for our Club that the best is yet to come. We will get back together and we will begin another century of service! We welcome your thoughts and ideas around our service and membership, so feel free to share.
Happy New Year,
Chad Copley
Club President 2020 - 2021
