In April and May 2023, the Rotary Club of Belleville spearheaded a Rotary Refresh initiative. The purpose of this exercise was to involve Rotary members in a process with the aim of co-creating positive change, as identified by members, that results in attracting new members and aligning activities with ways in which the Club can best serve Belleville and uphold Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus. As an update, Janeen presented the areas Rotary Refresh Focus:
- Lunch Club and Satellite Club -- one club with two meeting times, lunch and evening, in-person, alternating weeks. Exploring ways to accommodate virtual attendance in ways that create minimal support and ease for example, listen only.
- Rotary Club awareness -- new Club tent. Exploring ways members can promote Rotary when volunteering and attending events, e.g., Rotary caps, tee-shirts, when at RLK, Children's Christmas Party, Porchfest, Touch-a-Truck, tree planting, Senators 50/50, etc.
- Recruit new members -- 7 new members have joined. The committee is exploring a 'recruitment drive' or event. Have Rotary take-aways, e.g., postcard at events like Winter Games and others mentioned.
- Engage existing members -- speakers to include recipients of Paul Harris Awards, recipients of grants to discuss impact, Rotarians with history in the Club, new community members, e.g., downtown developer, Zubin, artist with pieces in MOMA & Tate, ordinary people with extraordinary stories, etc.
- Focus and clarity of fundraising activities -- committee work in process
- Energize meetings -- social time to mingle built in at both lunch and evening meetings. Meeting energizers. Peter's jokes of the day
Next steps to ensure discussions and ideas raised at the Refresh Rotary Committee meetings are brought forward to the Board. Encouraging members who are not on the committee, but would like to share input and insights to reach out to Committee members -- Peter Malone, Tracey Vandervoort, Janeen Halliwell, Ruth Mathieson, Cristina Cadavid, John Smale, Peter Coy and Karen Baker. Ensure the work of the Committee intersects with other Committee work such as Public Image and Recruitment. Continue to work together to move our efforts forward.
This work is about change. We are evolving and need to take time to be thoughtful as we move forward.