A Message from the Club President

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Dear Rotarians and Friends of Rotarians,                                                                      11-12-09

I have the privilege of holding the luckiest job in the world. That job is being President of the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale, where I work and volunteer with, the best people in the world, you, the members of our Rotary Club.

This past summer I attended a Leadership Seminar as an Adviser to a youth Delegation at the University of Indiana. The theme of this seminar was "The Power of One".  On its face "The Power of One" theme seemed rather selfish, one dimensional and not very thoughtful when trying to inspire youth, and I thought that this was going to be a poor idea for a theme for the week long seminar.

What I learned, however, from this seminar was that the power of one person, can make a difference in the world, the power of one vote can change an election, the power of one group of people can change the thinking of many, and the power of one Club working together can make a huge difference in the World.

Our one Rotary club, combined with our one district, together with 32,000 other single Rotary Clubs makes One World power, which creates a constructive, beneficial, and successful difference in our World.  You can't help but notice all the things that the Rotary club of Fort Lauderdale does in our Community, County, State, Nation and World.  We bring a greater quality of life to third world nations in desperate need of potable water by drilling wells and delivering clean water to drink, raise livestock and irrigate fields of crops. Rotary International has world wide, come with in a breath of curing Polio.  We send mobility to many people through out the world with the delivery of thousands of Wheelchairs for those who are physically challenged and in need of personal mobility. We package and deliver food and personal item care packages for the needy and shut in's in our own community. We bring the chance of a better education through our Scholarship program to selected students in many of our local High Schools, and we give financial assistance to community projects through our Rotary 1090 Grant's program.

All of this is done by our own Volunteers, Rotary members of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Club.  It was said many years ago by a great man of his generation, Dr. E. Urner Goodman, "he who serves his fellows is of all his fellows greatest".  That is who we are, Servant Leaders in our community and in the world.  Because, if we are still waiting to help, then we have waited too long, and if not us, then who, and if not now, when?  Our motto, is Service Above Self and as I said earlier I have the luckiest job in the world because I get to work with you, to really make a difference in our Community and our World.

In closing, I am privileged and honored to serve our great club this Rotary year as President and I challenge you to be a better Rotarian or if your are not a Rotarian, to become a Rotarian. 

Rotary is in your hands.  Please help us to continue to better our world.

Yours in Rotary,

Bill

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