Rotary Club of Ambler, PA

BECOMING A NEW MEMBER
OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF AMBLER

The Rotary Club of Ambler is part of a much larger, worldwide organization, Rotary International (“RI”). Rotary International is organized into geographic Districts, which consist of several individual clubs, such as Ambler. We are a part of District 7430. Information about RI and our District can be found by checking out their links on our home page.

What is Rotary?

First, and foremost, it’s an international organization
It is a global network of community leaders comprised of professionals, businessmen and clergy.

Men & women volunteers dedicated to the ideal of service

Rotarians provide humanitarian, educational & cultural programs and service locally & throughout the free world (i.e. Housing, clean water, disease control, vocational assistance and literacy)

Rotary encourages high ethical standards

Rotary attempts to build good will, understanding & world peace

Rotary is non-political, non-religious, non-governmental and is open to every race, culture & creed.

Membership is by invitation only

ROTARY AS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

The first Rotary Club was organized in Chicago in 1905, by Paul P. Harris. This club met in rotation at the offices of the founding members, hence the name Rotary. There are now more than 32,000 Rotary Clubs in the world with a total Rotary membership of more than 1.2 million.

The free world is divided into territories within which a group of clubs are associated – these territories are known as Rotary Districts.

There are presently 527 districts in the Rotary world – in over 170 countries and geographic territories.

The Ambler Club is in District 7430, which is composed of 47 clubs with a total membership of over 2400 Rotarians (as of winter 2009).

Rotary International is governed by a President and Board of Directors elected from all over the world. Annually, each District elects a District Governor, but each club is an autonomous group.

THE OBJECT OF ROTARY

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

First	The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
Second	High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
Third	The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business, and community life;
Fourth	The advancement of international understanding, good will, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional men & women united in the ideal of service

WHAT DOES ROTARY DO?

On our Home Page are several links which can give you a basic understanding of International and District activities, as well as the FOUR WAY TEST, which governs the conduct of Rotarians in their personal and professional lives. A snapshot of who we are and what we do can be seen in the…

FIVE (5) P’S OF ROTARY

PROJECTS	During the past 10 years, Rotarians have conducted 1.8 million humanitarian and educational projects, 253 million volunteer hours worked, and spent between $5.7 and $10 billion dollars on worldwide and community service projects.
PEACE	Rotary builds understanding through International scholarships & humanitarian grants. Rotary has established centers for international studies in peace & conflict resolution, and grants ambassadorial scholarships. We are the world’s largest university level program.
POLIO ERADICATION	Rotary launched a Polio Plus program in 1985 to immunize the world’s children. Since then we have raised $650 million to assist in inoculations, and the world is now 99% polio free. To date, 2 billion children have been inoculated, and these move us closer to our goal of a 100% polio free world. When this goal is reached it could provide a potential worldwide savings of up to $1.5 billion annually.
PROGRESS	From the inception of the first original 5 Chicago members in 1905, Rotary has grown to over 1,200,000 members. The Rotary Foundation was established to provide funding from donations for both an annual fund & a permanent fund for Rotary projects and programs. In 1945 Rotarians helped establish the UN & UNESCO.
PEOPLE	Through the act of becoming an active Rotarian, dedicated men & women have an organized opportunity to make the world a better place.

ABOUT THE ROTARY CLUB OF AMBLER (RCA)

RCA meets every Wednesday for lunch in the Ballroom at the William Penn Inn. Except for Holidays and Special Events)
Meetings begin promptly @ 12:15 P.M. and conclude by 1:30 P.M.
Each Rotary Year begins July 1st and ends June 30th
Rotary officers at all levels serve in their capacity for one year
RCA officers and board member elections are held in December
A “Changeover” dinner is held the first week of the Rotary year, during which new officers are introduced and installed for the coming year
In December a family holiday dinner is substituted in lieu of the weekly lunch meeting. This event includes a variety of entertainment
Other social events have been popular including: picnics, theater parties, dinner-dances, Monte-Carlo evenings, Phillies baseball games, golf outings just to name a few.
Fund raisers have included theme auctions, jazz concerts, Monte-Carlo nights & a 75th Anniversary golf tournament.
Youth service activities continue to be a high priority and focus of the RCA (i.e. Youth exchanges with foreign countries both inbound and outbound, camps providing team work & leadership skills, prom night support, and both student of the month and college bound high school student scholarships.
Our district governor visits at least once a year to meet with the officers and committee chairs. At this time he reviews our goals, accomplishments etc. with the club officers and directors.
Ambler Rotary was founded/chartered December 11, 1925
Current membership is approximately 90
We have numerous (instead of putting # which may change) committees and activities devoted to the four avenues of service: Club, Community, Vocational and International
In 2000, RCA established the “CFARC” (The Charitable Foundation of the Ambler Rotary Club – a 501c3 organization) to raise money for service causes and make it tax-deductible for donors
The classification system is a basis of membership. A limit of 10% of total club membership is permitted, which enables members to share a general classification (eg. Lawyers, estate lawyer)
The name Rotary was adopted early on because meetings were rotated between the members’ stores and offices.
The Rotary wheel is symbolic of man’s first technological invention and represents the movement of people and ideas from place to place
Membership is restricted to a specific club and does not permit transfer to another club
Each club is autonomous, and is assigned a specific geographical district. This district is guided by the constitution and by-laws of Rotary international headquartered in Evanston, Illinois.
In 1910, the Rotary object and motto was formulated to provide a succinct definition of our purpose

Our Motto is “Service Above Self”

THE FOUR – WAY TEST
Of the things we think, say or do

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER Friendships?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

We Implement the Object of ROTARY through…

THE FOUR AVENUES OF SERVICE

Club Service
Those things that a Rotarian does to help make successful the running of his local Rotary Club

Vocational Service
The promoting of the “ideal of service” throughout the business and professional world.

Community Service
Urges every Rotarian to participate in all activities which will make his community a better place in which to live

International Service
Encourage and foster the advancement of understanding and goodwill among peoples of the world. We support the Rotary Foundation program, which enables outstanding students to study for one year in a country other than their own on Rotary grants.

PRIVILEGES OF A ROTARIAN

The privilege of friendship and fellowship with other civic leaders throughout your community and the world

The privilege of giving service to your community

The privilege of developing international good will and understanding through humanitarian programs & service projects

The privilege of helping build higher ethical standards within your vocation

The privilege of working and associating with other dedicated like minded men & women.

The opportunity to learn about fellow Rotarians and be inspired by their accomplishments

The opportunity to learn first hand about your community’s past, present and future!

THE OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP

ATTENDANCE - Weekly club meetings, or make-up meetings at other clubs, club programs, fund raisers, social events. 50% attendance is required (at club meetings).

DUES – Annual dues must be paid by all members

PARTICIPATION – Members are expected to actively serve on one or more committees

INVOLVEMENT – Members are encouraged to participate in club service projects, programs, fund raisers and social events.

COMMITMENT – To conduct our lives by the Four Way Test & the Principles of Rotary

GIVE A CLASSIFICATION TALK – Your Bio (introduce yourself, family and vocation to club members)

WEEKLY MEETING ASSIGNMENTS – Greeters, room set-up, prayer, 50/50 &/ or other assignments.

RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS

DISTRICT CONFERENCES & R.I. CONVENTIONS

“EVERY ROTARIAN EVERY YEAR” – Goal is 100% participation by the club represents Paul Harris fellowship to support Rotary Foundation.

The Expected Annual COST of MEMBERSHIP

Dues (New Members Prorated)	$140.00
Weekly Lunches	$14.00
Social Events & Fund Raisers	Varies
Grand Club Buy/Sell 10 tickets	$100.00
Paul Harris Sustaining Fellowship	$100.00
50/50 Happy Dollars Lottery (Voluntary)	$1-5.00/wk

Rotary Publications

Rotary International publishes “The Rotarian” (a monthly magazine), the cost of which is included in your annual dues. You will receive this magazine each month. It is well worth reading

- It contains news of Rotary activities from around the world.
- It also contains interesting articles by outstanding writers on a variety of important subjects.

The RCA website is www.amblerrotary.org

Our Rotary Club furnishes you on this site with…

1. Access Links to Almost Anything you would like to know about Rotary.

2. Our Club Newsletter “The Rotary Wheel”. Which reports weekly the news of our members and club activities.

3. A Roster of our membership (Available only to members). You will find it convenient and useful

If you are invited by a current member and think that you and Rotary might be a good match, after you have familiarized yourself with Rotary, been proposed, are approved and inducted as a new member…

YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED to at least one of our Standing Committees by our President

YOU WILL BE WELCOMED by each member of our Club – but remember, like any organization, you must make the effort to meet and know us. Like anything else, you will get out of your Rotary experience what you put into it.

We hope that after this review you have a better understanding of what membership in the Rotary Club of Ambler will entail. If you have additional questions, please check with your sponsor or any club member. The Application for Membership must be obtained from your sponsor or a Club Officer.