DENISE SMITH HAS A FIRM GOAL
in mind. In late June 2018, she hopes to be among thousands of fellow Rotarians in Toronto when it’s announced polio has been eliminated worldwide.
This remarkable milestone is within reach partly because of countless hours of volunteering and fundraising by the more than one million Rotarians in the world. Tens of thousands of them will converge in Toronto for the International Convention.
“We are estimating that in 2017, it will be eradicated,” Smith says.
As president of the Rotary Club of Cambridge Sunrise, she is excited to be part of an organization that adheres to its principal motto: Service Above Self.
The international fight against polio is just one recipient of funds raised by the Sunrise club. Giving back to the local community is a priority for the club, which has about 20 members.
“We’ve been blessed in the past couple of years as we’ve maintained at 19, and we have two new members joining us,” she says.
The Sunrise club is so named because they meet for breakfast every Friday morning at the Galt Golf and Country Club. Not a morning person? No problem, there is another Rotary Club for you.
With three clubs in Cambridge, and five in Kitchener and Waterloo, there are a variety of meeting times and locations. Normally the meetings include food and a guest speaker.
Like many movements and organizations that become global forces, the Rotary was the brainchild of one visionary person.
In February 1905, attorney Paul P. Harris and three friends held the first Rotary meeting in Chicago. Harris’s goal was straightforward: he wanted to create a group that embodied the friendly spirit he had enjoyed during his small town upbringing. But Harris also saw the potential for the club to be welcome in many communities. From these humble beginnings grew a club that is active in more than 200 countries.
Smith’s reasons for joining the Rotary in 2009 are simple: “Because someone asked me. If feels good to give back. It’s a great organization and if you live and work in a community, you should give back there.”
And clubs are very welcoming of new members. When asked about the need to follow the principle of “classification” of members, Smith is unconcerned.
“If five lawyers want to join, we will let them join,” she laughs.
In Rotary’s early days, the classification principle allowed for only one member of a profession or business to be part of a single club. But modern clubs are more focused on commitment to service than ensuring all members are from a distinct profession or business.
However, if networking is your goal, it’s best not to join the Rotary. If you do, you won’t last long, says Tony Denison, member and past president of Kitchener Conestoga Rotary Club.
“You are there because you want to help the community.… We’ve had people who join with networking in mind. They’ve either changed to the right way of thinking or they’ve left.”
Denison joined his club in 2002 after