Kiwanis president addresses club for first meeting of new fiscal year
Newly appointed Kiwanis Club of Starkville President Laroy Rushing had a lot to say regarding the success of the past fiscal year for the club.
The Kiwanians held their first meeting of its new fiscal year on Tuesday, and while there was no guest speaker this week, Rushing had a lot to reflect on the past year.
“I think we had a really good year, especially considering the situation that we were under. Jim [Lytle] did a really good job as the pandemic kicked off, and then Matt [Seawright] picked up and we weathered that storm fairly well,” said Rushing. “While the pandemic is not quite over, I think the worst is behind us, and we can look forward and be optimistic on what we can accomplish for the coming year. I certainly hope that we can continue to be an asset to the community and continue to fulfill our mission of improving the lives of children, one community at a time.”
One of the goals Rushing addressed to the club for the new year is to retain and grow membership in the Kiwanis Club.
“We need to maintain and, of course, increase our membership to stay a viable club long-term, and we need to continue that effort,” said Rushing. “This past year, we added like six new members, but we lost five. So, we ended up with a net gain of one. We have 43 active members, and I’d like to see us take on a goal of, at least, increasing our membership by 10 percent, that would be about five net new members. That doesn’t sound like an awful lot, but it certainly will take some work.”
On top of that, Rushing would also like to try to increase the club’s minority membership.
“We support the minority community, because there are a number of children in that arena who need our support,” Rushing said.
When it comes to achieving those goals, Rushing said it is easier said than done, but another goal Rushing mentioned is overall general participation.
“As with most clubs and organizations like this, most of the work for the service projects end up being accomplished by a core group of individuals. I’d get more of our membership involved in our projects,” said Rushing. “I still think we need a signature project that we would be known throughout the community for, and I’m not sure we have that right now. Nan [Rushing] and I have talked about it a bunch, because we drive right by it. There’s a building on our street that’s unoccupied that would be a great homeless shelter. So, if anyone has an extra million dollars lying around, or something like that, let us know when we’ve got an idea where we can put that to youth.”
The Kiwanis Club of Starkville will meet again next Tuesday for its weekly scheduled meeting.