Do you remember when we were kids, we all had a way to look out for each other? It is now time to get back into practice and get our youth back!
In the President's Plan, I wrote a bit about Fellowship and Member Welfare. I wanted to get a more robust version in place to make sure no members fell between the cracks. I assigned a huge number of people to this committee just to cover all the bases because everyone has their own friendship circles.
The committee description went like this: This committee is probably the most important and far-reaching committee in the Club. This is the care centre! People in this committee are charged with the welfare and engagement of the members. They are proactive in making sure everyone is alright and provide support when things go wrong. This committee is in charge of social activities that will create bonds between members and strengthen the social fabric of the club. A strong coherent club makes membership enjoyable and fulfilling. New members will quickly establish friendships through activities not directly related to the functions of the club.
OK, the function and purpose of this committee seem quite obvious to me and I thought it important to get it going ASAP, especially when we are all in isolation and things can go pear-shaped easily. We DO need to LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER. Jane Moore took up the challenge and has already made a difference to our members that she knows of, who need a boost. Jane cannot do it all on her own, remembering this is the most important function of Club Service in our Club. That huge list of committee members is needed to make sure everyone is covered by several people. It is fair to say that some people have come forward to help but more help is required. Jane has been very proactive considering I haven't written a job description which is a bit embarrassing for me. Please contact Jane if you can lend a hand to keep all our members connected and supported.
Here is an idea suggested by Jen Marshall in discussion with Jane.
"We also discussed welfare, which previously was checking in on members with illnesses or going through tough times. However, now with lockdown, really the entire club needs checking in on! As we are a club we should all be checking in on each other. So I was proposing we have a welfare week.
Using a current Rotarian list we match everyone up and for that week EVERYONE must contact their matched person. This can be a text message, an email, zoom call or a phone call. It could be a gesture or activity, this could include if you live within 5 km from your matched person, organising to go for a walk with them, dropping flowers, wine or a gift at their door (contactless). A couple of times a week, you could text a recommendation for a book, restaurant, recipe, weekend away location, podcast, or whatever interests that person, or you could send them a treat from a local cafe, anything. This could be contacted once for the week or it could be a couple of times - there are no rules except that contact must be made at least once in some way. We would try to match people that live within 5 km of each other and it is up to the pair to do whatever they want. But it is to remind each other that someone is thinking of them and to give people the chance to have a chat if they need it.”
I love the way this idea has evolved and that we have members in our club making an effort to come up with ideas to keep us together. Thank you to Jane for picking up the baton and Jen for coming up with a novel idea! It is up to us all to do our part for all our members.