The following summary was created to assist in the assignment of new members to committees where they might be interested and make a difference. The membership of some committees is limited or restricted by our by-laws to particular officers or others. Other committees are not restricted and have the greatest need of new personnel and passion. These committees with the greatest need are marked with an asterisk.
I. Club Service A
Classification Committee
This committee oversees the classifications of membership for our club. Rotary has historically only allowed one person in a management position in various professions and areas of business. This committee ensures that we have an open classification for prospective new members. As our economy evolves this committee also evaluates and oversees the need for and creation, if necessary, of additional categories.
Membership Screening
Applications for membership are welcomed and encouraged and are considered on a case by case basis. Each recommendation for membership requires a vote of the full Board for acceptance into the Club.
*Gala: Chairperson
This committee is always chaired by the President-Elect who has overall responsibility for the annual Gala celebration. This event typically occurs in the fall of our Rotary year. The type of program has varied over the years to include roasts, entertainment, speeches and music. This committee needs people to help with all aspects of the event such as caterers, decorations and entertainment.
*Awards Committee
The purpose of this committee is to meet and decide what awards should be given to various members or others for service to Rotary or the community. Awards available are the Rotarian of the Year Award (Lance Bodden Award), Four Avenues Citation, Foundation Award, Polio Eradication Award, Attendance Award and Membership Development Award. These have been given, when awarded at various times, including at the annual Gala. The Board also decided to give this committee responsibility for reviewing requests and recommending the winner of the Rotary General Fund Grant which is awarded annually, from interest earned on particular investments, to a one-time brick and mortar project of local significance.
Rotary Children’s Foundation
In the early 1930’s, our club helped establish a specific facility for the care of disabled children by raising $25,000. That facility is now known as the Bedsole-Rotary Rehabilitation Center and is housed as part of the larger Mobile Infirmary Hospital. The Rotary Children’s Foundation (“RCF”) was created early on as a separate charitable organization to own this facility. Because of conservative management and the bequests of numerous Rotarians and other generous families, the RCF currently has in excess of $1,000,000. Each year the RCF distributes almost $100,000 to local charitable organizations such as Goodwill-Easter Seal and others. This committee meets annually to decide how to distribute these funds based on the various requests.
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*Rotary Orientation and Involvement
This committee was formerly known as Rotary Information. This committee is responsible for meeting with prospective members to explain Rotary and the club’s expectations. In addition, this committee is now responsible for ensuring that once a person is a new member that they are immediately placed in a committee where they will become involved in the work of Rotary.
Election Committee
This committee has the limited responsibility of conducting the elections at a meeting in the fall of the year. Because the nominating committee typically nominates those Board members who have been on the leadership track it is rare that there are other nominees. But, this committee conducts the election and asks for nominations from the floor of the meeting and ensures that the process is fair.
Nominating Committee
This committee is appointed by the President of the club according to our bylaws. (Article I, Section1). The committee must have at least three members, one of whom must be a past president who serves as Chair. This committee submits its nominees for each office and board position to the club which are then published and voted on by the club as a whole. II.
II. Club Service B
*Invocation
Each meeting is begun by prayer. Rotary is a world-wide, non-denominational service organization and we try to keep that in mind with our prayers. This committee typically selects 12 people to each manage one month of the Rotary year. This in turn requires these 12 members to select up to four people (depending on the number of meetings during their respective month) to deliver the prayer at that time.
* Membership Development
This committee focuses on new members as well as retention of existing members. This committee meets periodically to help identify, promote and implement membership strategies that will result in membership development and growth within the club’s footprint.
*Programs
This committee has a great influence on the attendance at the meetings. The Chairperson asks 12 members to each take one month as a monthly program chairman. These need to be in place by May 15 so that programming for the initial month of the new Rotary year, July, is in place well in advance. We have a complete package that assists our monthly chairs and which helps make the process more uniform. Salesmen, organizations trying to raise money and politicians running for office are to be avoided thanks to a long history of doing so. Monthly chairs should submit their proposed speakers to the overall chair for review so that the chair can ensure a balanced and interesting program selection. The better the speaker the better the attendance and participation of the club members.
Song & Music
This committee ensures that we have appropriate members leading the club in song. This includes lining up talented singers among the membership and piano players. A number of alternates need to be kept on deck in the event our regulars cannot attend.
*Student Guests
This committee coordinates with selected area schools and school counselors to choose a student to honor each week during our meeting. The student’s counselor and parents are invited and introduced. Students are asked to give a 2 – 3 minute speech on what Rotary’s Four Way Test means to them.
III. Club Service C:
*Bulletin / Roster Committee
This committee is responsible for publishing a weekly club bulletin to stimulate interest and improve attendance, announce upcoming programs, relate highlights of previous meetings, promote fellowship, contribute to the Rotary education of all members, report news of the club, its members and of the worldwide Rotary program. The committee also publishes a Roster of club members on an annual basis.
*Fellowship / Family of Rotary
This committee promotes acquaintance and friendship among the members through organized Rotary recreational and social activities, or activities assigned by the president or the board.
*Public Relations & Media
This committee creates and implements plans to give the public general information about Rotary, as well as proper publicity for the club. In addition, the committee stimulates interest in, and use of, THE ROTARY magazine. Finally, this committee oversees our website and its content.
*Rotary Tarpon Tournament
This committee coordinates with members of the Sunrise Rotary Club to conduct the annual Rotary Tarpon Tournament. This is the largest fundraiser our club sponsors. The Rotary Club of Mobile uses its proceeds to support local programs and those sponsored by the Rotary International Foundation. Committee activities include tournament coordination, publicity, sponsorship sales, team solicitation, printing and distribution of signage and promotional items, and coordination of the Captain’s pre-event reception.
IV. Community Service
*Camp ASCCA
Camp ASCCA is a camp located in Jackson’ Gap, near Montgomery, that supports mentally and physically challenged kids and their families. This camp offers kids a once in a life time opportunity to experience the outdoors. It offers their parents a rare break from their lives in caring for these children, as wonderful as they are. This helps in the overall coordination and sponsorship of local campers who plan to attend.
This committee also seeks to raise members’ awareness of Camp ASCCA and the club’s involvement in supporting the camp and campers.
*Youth Merit Award
This committee oversees and coordinates the annual scholarship application process in the spring for all those selected during their senior year by their school’s leadership for the weekly Youth Merit Award. This recognition includes a presentation by the student on the “Meaning of Service” during a weekly Rotary luncheon. The winners (2) of the competition receive a $4,000.00 scholarship for their undergraduate education, a $1,000.00 scholarship for each of the four years.
*Interact/Rotaract
Interact is a Rotary sponsored youth service club for secondary school students (15-18) interested in working on local and international projects. Rotaract is Rotary-sponsored service club for young people from 18-30. It conducts two major service projects each year and emphasizes individual responsibility as a basis for personal success and community involvement. Our club helped launch a Rotaract Club in Mobile in 2009.
Rotary District 6880 Grants
Each year our club can apply for district simplified grants to obtain money from Rotary International to fund local projects. These grants usually average from $5,000 to $10,000. This committee must select options for projects, get Board approval, and then complete the necessary paperwork to obtain the grant. If approved this committee would work with other relevant committees, such as Community Projects, to complete the project and file any post-completion documents with Rotary International.
V. Club Service International/Vocational
Rotary Foundation
The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. This committee’s job is to raise our club’s awareness of the work of the Foundation and push our club to meet its annual responsibilities to fund the work of the Foundation.
*Group Study Exchange
The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country’s culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas. In a typical four-week tour, applicants participate in five full days of vocational visits, 15 to 20 club presentations, 10 to 15 formal visits and social events, two to three days at the district conference, three to four hours per day of cultural and site tours, and three to four hours per day of free time with host families.
As a result, Rotarians in the host area provide for meals, lodging, and group travel within their district and organize receptions honoring our guests and vocational visits with those in their area of expertise.
*Rotary Youth Leadership Academy
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary’s leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30, but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30. RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to:
- Demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth.
- Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders.
- Encourage leadership of youth by youth.
- Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities.
*Conservation Committee
This committee morphed into the Project Cate committee, which is no longer under the umbrella of the Mobile Rotary Club. As a result, this committee’s task is to seek out new projects relevant to conservation and the environment that our club can initiate.
*Literacy
Rotary Literacy Month, celebrated in March each year, highlights literacy and education issues around the world. Rotary Literacy Month is an excellent opportunity for Rotary clubs and districts to raise awareness about literacy, launch new literacy initiatives and projects, and recognize literacy accomplishments from the past year. Rotarians everywhere are encouraged to participate in Rotary Literacy Month by engaging in service or activities that specifically address literacy and education issues either in their communities or abroad.
Literacy is the foundation for virtually all forms of education and a crucial component of effective social and economic participation, human development, and poverty reduction. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) nearly 800 million people over the age of 15 lack even basic reading and writing skills worldwide. In addition, there are roughly 137 million school age children who are illiterate around the world. Sadly, over 64% of all illiterate people in the world today are women.
*Community Projects
The purpose of this committee is to evaluate potential community projects to be supported, funded and accomplished by our club. This committee will propose such projects to the Board for funding and support. This committee will work with the District Simplified Grant Committee to coordinate as necessary on projects.
*These committees typically have the greatest need for member involvement.