From the Governor's Desk

Posted by Sherri Muniz 
on Jan 02, 2012
 
JANUARY – Rotary Awareness Month
"As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think big." --Donald Trump
January – the start of the second half of our Rotary year begins! And with it the Rotary Theme for the month is “Rotary Awareness” . . a time to look at how we can raise the awareness of Rotary and what Rotarians do in our communities and our world.
As we travelled in India in November, I noted how aware the common person was of the presence of Rotary and what Rotarians were accomplishing.  To a person, everyone we talked with had heard of Rotary and most knew two or three projects that local Rotarians were involved in -- projects in addition to Rotarians’ work to eradicate polio.  And as we travelled through 4 different cities, over and over again we saw Rotary logos on all kinds of projects – and BIG logos that were plainly visible to everyone passing by.
It is that “BIGness” that may be the key to the awareness Indian Rotarians have created in their country – BIG signs on BIG projects that address needs local Rotarians have identified – needs that are not being met by other agencies or groups. 
 
One of my favorite quotes comes from Donald Trump who says, “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big!” . . and so this month I encourage you all to think BIG – think of BIG ways you can make the people in your community aware that Rotarians are hard at work at home as well as in our world.  Do you have projects – old or new - that are not easily identified as Rotary-sponsored? Now might be the time to add the signs to identify that Rotary did this work! . . .now might be the time to submit articles to the local media summarizing the work of Rotary locally – particularly in the area of projects that are unique to Rotarians.  Now might be the time to prepare a well-designed flyer describing the work of your Rotary club or the time to get your web site or Facebook page updated with pictures of the projects your club does that help raise awareness of what Rotarians are doing.
As we continue to think of how to “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity”, think of how to show that action to others outside of Rotary.
And while you are thinking – keep on thinking “BIG” about the needs you see that can be addressed by Rotary – it is when we use our eyes and our minds to observe what should be that we make the biggest differences in our world.  While from time to time Rotarians work to support the work of other groups and
agencies with financial support, it is the projects that no one else is leading that allow us to make the BIGgest differences in our world . . .so as long as
your Rotary club will be thinking this month about Rotary Awareness . . THINK BIG!