Rotary Club of Sackville & Area Club of the Year

Posted by Jim Goit 
on May 15, 2016
 
It is the practice for the district to name one of our clubs for the Outstanding Club of the Year Award.  This is a very difficult task as there are so many great clubs doing extraordinary things.
 
To be eligible, the criteria specifies that the successful club must be eligible for the RI Presidential citation and have shown an increase in membership during the year.  Clubs are then judged on their Membership Development, Service Projects, Support of the Foundation and Service beyond the Club.
 
The Rotary Club of Sackville & Area has seen a healthy 10 percentage growth this past year. They have shown true innovation and flexibility in their membership recruitment and retention, being flexible about meeting arrangements and offering lots of choice during the month for makeups and engagement. In membership development, the Sackville club makes it a priority to develop its members, making sure that they have good representation at RLI, grant qualification or the Training for Leaders sessions or the District conference. 
 
They have more than their share of people helping at the District level as well as with the club.
 
The Rotary Club of Sackville & Area consistently show leadership in creating innovative service projects, creating small, hands on activities that many members can take part in and that are highly visible in the community.  They are just getting started with International projects but they see that this is an important avenue for service and something that will help them be a more balanced club, so, as a start, they are partnering with other clubs that are more engaged in International work.
 
They talk about their work.  They have significantly ramped up their use of social media and consistently post event announcements, stories and pictures of their activities.  They have a 33% growth in followers and, more importantly, engagement with people in their posts. They are one of the clubs I that can be counted on for the sharing of posts from the district site.  You have only to go to their website and Facebook page to know what they are up to.
 
The club is fully engaged in the youth service area, having planned for and recruited a member to lead the project. They have sponsored the district’s newest Interact club all within the space of about 6 months. 
 
Sackville and Area have also created the first “Rotary ideas” fundraising project in the district and increased their own member's support for the RI Foundation. 
 
This is all the more remarkable for a club that is only 4 years old.  The Rotary Club of Sackville and Area is very deserving of District 7820’s Outstanding Rotary Club of the Year Award.