District 5500
goes South of the Border - 4/2002
Delegations from the Catalina and Mesa Rotary Clubs
traveled to Rocky Point, Mexico from April 12-14 for a weekend of service
and fellowship with the Rotarians of the Puerto Peñasco Club.
Catalina Club members and their families split into
two painting details. As part of an ongoing project with the Puerto Peñasco
Club, a room in a local school received a fresh coat of “Rotary Blue”
paint. The room will become the seventh in a series of elementary school
libraries the two clubs are establishing in Sonora. Catalina and Puerto Peñasco
recently formalized a sister club arrangement in order to foster the
ongoing library project. The second Catalina contingent pitched in to help
Manos de Ayuda by cleaning and priming the walls of two trailers. The
trailers will soon become part of a permanent clinic for children with
special needs.
Mesa members and their families helped at Manos de
Ayuda’s monthly “Clinic of Hope.” Throughout the day, they assessed
needs, prescribed treatment and therapy and cooked lunch for the young
patients and their families.
On Saturday evening, the three clubs enjoyed fine
Mexican food and music at a beachfront party hosted by the Catalina Club.
Back to top of page.
Catalina Rotary’s STAR Program: The Key to Retaining New
Members - 10/2002
It began
with a chance encounter in a Dallas airport. Twenty-years
later, the Catalina Rotary Club STAR program continues to
involve, educate and retain new Catalina Rotarians.
The year was 1982. Then Catalina Rotary President George Burpo,
fresh from the Rotary Convention in Dallas, was cooling his
heels at the airport, waiting to board his flight. He struck
up a conversation with another Rotarian. During the course of
their chat George was asked if Catalina had a STAR program for
new members. George wasn’t familiar with the program and asked
for details.
STAR, as George found out, stands for Special Training for
Action in Rotary. The program is designed to welcome new
members and involve them in club activities as quickly as
possible. George was intrigued, seeing STAR as a possible
solution to Catalina’s membership challenges. At the time,
many Catalina members weren’t making the effort to get to know
new inductees. Also, most of the newly minted Rotarians were
afraid to ask questions about Rotary and the workings of the
club. As a result, members were deciding Rotary had nothing to
offer them and were leaving the club. STAR offered a way to
address this situation and to keep Catalina’s front door from
becoming a revolving door.
Catalina instituted its STAR program on August 27, 1982. The
program has evolved over the years, but its core goals remain
the same: to make new members feel welcome, to teach them
about Rotary and involve them in club activities early on.
Here’s how the program works:
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Welcome:
Catalina STAR members (first year members) wear red badges.
Members are encouraged to introduce themselves to STARs and
to invite them to sit at their tables during lunch. (In
addition to fostering Rotary fellowship, there’s another
incentive for having a STAR at your table: the
sergeant-at-arms frequently fines members at tables without
STAR members!) |
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Education:
A separate meeting for STARs is held each month. A
president, chosen from the STARs for a one-year term, runs
the meetings, assisted by an advisor (usually the club’s
immediate past president). Here, club officers and
chairpersons instruct the new members in club procedures and
Rotary avenues of service. The meetings are informal and
questions are encouraged. The 7 AM meetings attract a high
percentage of STAR members. |
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Involvement:
In addition to education, the STAR meetings give STARs a
chance to plan activities for the club. In the past year the
group staged an afternoon of fellowship at a trap and skeet
club and ran several fundraisers. These successes build
confidence and encourage new members to take on even greater
responsibilities. STARs also figure prominently in each
Catalina Rotary meeting. They greet attendees at the door
and take to the podium to introduce guests and visiting
Rotarians. The STAR group is also responsible for presenting
“member spotlights.” These intimate profiles honor the lives
and accomplishments of Catalina’s senior members. |
Catalina’s
STAR program works. The ranks of STAR members are growing.
With them come new energy, new excitement and new ideas.
They’ve even proposed new members. Clearly, the answer to
retaining new members and revitalizing a club can be
found in the STARs. Back
to top of page.
Catalina Rotary Club awards community development grants -
12/2002
Nineteen Tucson-area charities and social
services agencies are sharing $22,000 as a result of Catalina
Rotary’s annual Community Development Grant Program.
Catalina’s Community Development Committee reviewed funding
requests from twenty-nine area charities. The committee’
recommendations went to Catalina Rotary’s board of directors,
which approved grants for the following organizations and
programs: American Diabetes Association – Awakening the Spirit
Program; Arthritis Foundation – Juvenile Arthritis Hispanic
Outreach Program; Assistance League of Tucson – Operation
School Bell; Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson – Youth Homework
Program; El Pueblo Clinic – Asthma Patient Education Program
for Children and Families; El Rio Foundation – Low Income
Diabetic Hispanic and Native American Children Program;
Friends of Robles Ranch Community Center – air conditioning
system maintenance; Lighthouse City YMCA – Teen Fitness
Program; Mobile Meals of Tucson – new computer and printer;
Alliance for the Mentally Ill – Visions of Tomorrow Education
Program; Our Town – Common Unity Program; Pima Youth
Partnership – AmeriCorps staff funding; Arizona Blue Chip
Program – All Blue Chip Service Day; TROT – scholarship
assistance for children with disabilities; TMM Family Services
– funding for washers and dryers; Travelers Aid Society – room
furnishings for a women’s shelter; Scottish Rite Foundation –
play/therapy area shade structure; Tucson Zoological Society –
Sunday Selections Program; UA Extended University – community
development projects for neighborhood improvements.
The Community Development Grant Committee was established to
organize the distribution of resources to the needy through
organizations in Tucson and surrounding communities. The
primary goal of the Committee, made up of Catalina members, is
to solicit local charities for submission of grant requests,
to review the requests submitted, to rank the requests and to
recommend the charities deemed by the committee to be most
qualified to Catalina’s Board. The committee also recommends
the amount of funding for each charity. To be considered,
charities must appeal to the goals of Rotary International and
the Catalina Rotary Club and meet the following guidelines:
1.
Support children, youth at risk, families in need or
the elderly.
2.
Support community activities in the greater Tucson
Metropolitan Community.
3.
Propose to fund a specific project, item or activity in
their charity.
4.
Have a Catalina Rotarian actively involved in the
organization seeking support, as a volunteer, or as a member
of its Board of Directors.
5.
Have 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status, or be affiliated
with a 501(c) (3) organization.
After receipt of the
requests, the committee ranks the programs by the established
criteria and judge how Rotary efforts will be recognized by
the Grantee, how the benefits of the grant are to be
distributed and what the dollar benefits are to be for the
individual recipients of the programs. The committee’s
recommendations are then sent to the Board, which selects the
charities for the grant awards. The committee distributes the
funds during or near the Christmas holiday period. The process
is completed by year’s end.
The grant program is funded through
Catalina’s yearly rose sale, with profits from the club’s beer
concession at the Tucson Rodeo and through donations made by
members at the Catalina Club’s weekly meetings. Back
to top of page. |
