The diverse options in avenues of service is what Cochrane Rotarian Bruce Tannas feels sets the Cochrane Rotary Club apart from other volunteer organizations, and what he hopes will interest new members to join the local group of 32 members.
“You can pick your avenue of service with Rotary – there’s a lot of great reasons to join,” said Tannas, who is in charge of public relations for the service club, which is celebrating its 25th year in Cochrane.
As part of its membership drive, the service club will be hosting an info session at the Nan Boothby Library Oct. 20 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., showcasing the club’s endeavours, ongoing projects and what it takes to be a Rotarian.
“The unique proposal of Rotary is that it’s local, as we are regional, national and international,” he said.
Tannas said the Cochrane club’s membership numbers are only around half of what he would like to see and that High River and Canmore club memberships are around 100 strong.
Worldwide, there are more than 33,000 clubs and one million members.
The five avenues of Rotary service include club, community, vocational, international and youth.
The general expectation for members is to sit on at least one vocational committee and to volunteer for at least one fundraising project; the club meets weekly.
Some Rotary Club highlights include the annual Youth Rotary Talent Festival, involvement in the annual Tournament of Aces and Kimmett Cup, the International Youth Exchange program, and Parks Day at the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park.
The club has fundraised and donated to a laundry list of Cochrane-based organizations and projects such as Right to Play ($50,000 in 2015), free skate day at the Spray Lake Sawmills Centre, the Cochrane Community Health Centre and STARS Air Ambulance – the Rotary was one of the fundraisers behind the ultrasound machinery purchased for the centre this past spring and the airborne ultrasound equipment for STARS.
Some local Rotarians will be joining with Shelter Canada to travel to El Salvadore in March of 2017 to build homes for those in need. Eradicating polio remains a top international objective for the club.
