It was not easy, but they have done it well! By PDG HW Fung and PDG Kenneth Wong, District Membership co-chairs
On 28th September, a simple but motivating membership ceremony took place at the Rotary Information Center.
The ceremony was held to recognize Rotary Clubs of D3450 that have achieved outstanding membership growth in Rotary year 2019-2020.
Riddled with challenges from social issues in Hong Kong and the Coronavirus pandemic, 2019-2020 was certainly a difficult year for the running of Rotary Clubs.
To protect individual well-being and to reduce the spread of the virus, Rotarians are obliged to comply with government regulations restricting social gatherings, resulting in regular meetings, service and fellowship activities of Rotary Clubs being discontinued or conducted through virtual platforms.
Simultaneously impacted by the subsequent acute economic contraction, many Rotary Clubs in our district are struggling hard just to retain their usual membership strength.
It is often said that “Challenges can bring out the best in us”, many Rotary Clubs under concerted leadership and with resolute commitment managed to strengthening their membership even under the most trying conditions.
At the ceremony, we were proud to award the following Rotary Clubs which, through their exemplary effort and sound leaderships have achieved significant contribution to membership growth in 2019-2020.
Rotary Club of Kowloon East received the highest award in membership growth and a cheque of US$1,000 amongst clubs in Hong Kong, so did Rotary Club of Macau Central, Macau amongst clubs in Macau and Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Peace Avenue in Mongolia.
Rotary Club of Wanchai, Rotary Club of Peninsula Sunrise, Rotary Club of Greater Bay area and Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Central each received an award of US$500 for having achieved membership growth of no less than 4 members during RY 2019-2020.
We also recognized the contribution of three Rotary Clubs which were chartered in 2019-2020 and we are thankful to their respective charter presidents for their significant contributions to district membership for the 3 clubs have added in total more than 80 fine Rotarians to our district.
Rotary Club of Hong Kong North Point, Rotary Club of Island Green, Hong Kong and Rotary Club of Oriental Pearl Macau were chartered in 2019-2020 and each club was given a cheque of US$1,000 which would be used for funding their community services projects.
Mr. Yiu Ching On, a long serving Rotarians of almost 50 years and Immediate Past President of Rotary Club of Kowloon East was asked to share with other rotary clubs on his secret of success in recruiting new members.
IPP Yiu Ching On’s eyes gleamed with proud as he spoke modestly.
“ I thank the district and IPDG Wilson Cheng for the honor of the recognition and the award, Rotary Club of Kowloon East is a club with 50 years of proud traditions in serving the community and fine fellowship amongst its members who understand the importance of continuously adding strength to the club by adding quality members”. He attributed his membership success to the support from his fellow Rotarians, the harmony and great teamwork amongst club members.
IPP On Gor also stressed the importance of actively reaching out to neighbors and friends and tirelessly showing them the spirit of Rotary in doing good to the community.
He said he was proud to have added 8 younger Rotarians to his clubs.
The District Membership Committee understands the importance of recognizing and honoring the good works of Rotary Clubs that have achieved outstanding results in overall membership retention and recruitment, we believe it is an effective mean to encouraging other Rotary Clubs to do likewise.
Looking ahead, we are truly grateful for the wisdom and staunch support from our District Governor Eric in allocating substantial resource in motivating Rotary clubs and their members to open membership opportunities amidst prevailing global challenging circumstances to Rotary under the Coronavirus pandemic.
The following is the summary of incentives to Rotary Clubs in achieving net membership growth in 2020-2021.
- For the net gain of one member, an award of HK$1,000 will be given to the clubs towards implementing of service project. Maximum amount for each club is capped at HK$15,000.
- HK$15,000 will be awarded to every Rotary Club chartered in Rotary year 2020-2021.
- In addition, Rotary Club with the highest membership growth in the district will received further cash award of HK$10,000 and HK$6,000 and HK$4,000 will be given to Rotary clubs that achieves 2nd and 3rd highest membership growth respectively.
- The area that registers the highest net growth in membership will be awarded HK$15,000, and HK$6,000 and HK$4,000 to areas that comes 2nd and 3rd highest in net growth in membership.
Rotary has been doing good to the world for more than 115 years and during its long existence, it has been through the ravages of the Spanish flu in 1918, the two world wars, the great depression and countless global financial crisis. Record shows that Rotarians are resilient and resourceful, and we have demonstrated our ability to prevail through various hardships and challenges, and always emerged even stronger than before.
We believe that through working together, we shall all rise up to the challenges and continue to march on.
