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Rotarians invest approximately 47 million volunteer hours every year, into improving the lives of those around them

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Rotary awarded $333 million to global service initiatives throughout the 2020 pandemic

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By: David Kramer

To my Rotarian Friends and Friends of Rotary:

It is a great honor to serve as the 96th President of the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale. Founded in 1922 we are the oldest service club in Broward County and the largest club in District 6990, covering Southeast Florida and Grand Bahama Island. Our mission is to improve the quality of human life through volunteer community service and to “Be the Inspiration” for positive change locally, regionally, and internationally.

We are part of a network of over 1.2 million friends, business and professional associates, and civic leaders in over 33,000 clubs worldwide who come together to fulfill a vision. Barry Rassin, President of Rotary International 2018-2019 asked “That the good we do lasts. We want to make the world a better place. Not just here, not just for us, but everywhere, for everyone, for generations.” This is our vision too.

How are we fulfilling this vision? We take “Service Above Self” to heart. Our club has provided 470 college and vocational scholarships worth $2.3 million over the last 40 years. We participate in feeding projects in Fort Lauderdale and Immokalee, FL at Thanksgiving, serve at the homeless assistance center and donate clothes and supplies to its residents, help with neighborhood beautification and home repair, improve childhood literacy, provide airplane rides to children with physical and/or mental challenges, conduct a holiday toy drive, support a senior care residential community, and provide hurricane/disaster relief. 

Internationally our club supports The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund and End Polio Now, and Rotary Youth Exchange. We partner with the Wheelchair Foundation to bring mobility to people around the world, with A Spring of Hope to drill water wells and provide waterless sanitation equipment at the schools in South Africa, with Replenish to provide water filtration equipment at schools in Kenya, and through a Rotary Global Grant involving 4 Rotary Clubs, with the Rotary Club of Haenertsburg, South Africa to train teachers in Early Childhood Development. We also provide hurricane disaster relief in the Bahamas.

Social events include an evening social on the last Wednesday of each month rather than a luncheon, an installation dinner in June, a BBQ/picnic, a holiday party, and a boat parade party in December.  We had our first annual Pirate Festival in May 2018 and we are working hard to make it bigger and better next year.

In addition to all of the above, there are other projects as well … but you get the point. We are doing a tremendous amount of good – locally, regionally, and internationally – and we are having a marvelous time doing it.

Thank you to everyone in the club who help plan, implement, and participate in these great projects and activities. Once involved in our organization, our members stay for the friendships and camaraderie enjoyed at our meetings, events and service projects.

If you are looking to give back to the community I invite you to check us out. Your contributions can help shape our future direction, even as the club broadens and expands yours. Through our commitment to service we change lives for the better, and don’t be surprised to find your life is changed too. I look forward to serving with you this year.

 

David H. Kramer
2018 - 2019 President
Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale Florida

“The Downtown Club”

Rick Riccardi

2023-2024 Club President


Club President Letter 2023-24

Hello Fellow Ft. Lauderdale Rotarians,

I’m so proud to be your President this year. This is not a “job” I had hoped for in my later years but one that I’m excited about, and more than willing to do. “Service Above Self” and being a “Servant Leader” are principles in life (not just in Rotary) that I, hopefully, will be positively measured by.

This year, thankfully, does not have the obstacles of COVID and the aftermath of COVID to deal with. Thanks to Perry, Terry, and Jaye, our three previous leaders, I now have the opportunity to lead this club to new heights of accomplishments.

We are off to a good start with so many of you stepping up to participate in so many ways. Every member will be asked and given the opportunity to be of service to the club or to the community. We are all here to be of service, and hopefully you will all find that opportunity by serving on a committee or participating in one or more service projects. For that reason, I will make sure you all know about each committee and service project, week after week.

I would like to initiate two new long-term service projects for our club that, I believe, conform with Rotary International’s initiatives on “Bringing Hope to The World”. The first is Homelessness and Behavioral Health (including mental health and substance-use disorder).  The second is Urban Farming or “Agrihood” to bring better health (mental and physical) to our neighborhoods.

I will make sure that the new members are welcomed with enthusiasm and are included immediately in our weekly luncheons and service projects. I will ask you members with more time in our club to be of service to the club by sharing your time with other members who need to feel wanted and included. To help this along, I’m promoting the idea of a random seating system at lunch for those of you who don’t have a guest or have some reason to have to sit with a specific member.

I’m also trying a new weekly meeting structure. In order to get to know each other better, I’m asking you to volunteer to tell us who you are. On the first Wednesday of each month, we will have a club meeting that will include two of our members who are willing to tell us their story in a 12-minute presentation, with or without slides.

We will continue to have our evening social meeting on the last Wednesday of the month and continue to have our speaker luncheon meetings the other two or three Wednesdays each month.

We now have about 120 members, of which about 50 are new in the last two years. Our intention is to have more new members to replace and exceed the average 15% of members who leave the club each year. This club is here to serve each other and to serve the community – local and worldwide. Let’s let the community know what we do and how we serve, so others may have the opportunity to join us in service. I look forward to our Public Image Committee, with all its Information Technology commitment and talent, being very busy this year getting the word out on our club’s behalf.

Let’s be the best we can be.

Rick

Rick Riccardi, Club President 2023-24
Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale

International Projects

Volunteer With Us

As we begin our Rotary year, here is a quick reminder of the service projects we have on our schedule so far. We do not have exact dates for everything, but please keep these projects in mind and be on the lookout for more information. If you would like to help with any of these projects, please contact the chair directly. If you have ideas for new projects, please contact Kristin LaFleur or St. George Guardabassi.

  • Find Your Way Home – Jorg Hruschka – Select Tuesdays and Thursdays
  • Holiday Toy Drive – Linda Cooke – October – December
  • Thanksgiving Baskets – Steve Botkin – Saturday, November 18
  • Salvation Army Bell Ringing – Steve Botkin – December
  • Challenge Air – Dan Rizzi – January 26 & 27
  • Agape Love Breakfast – Gail Auguston-Koppen – February 9 & 10

Rotarians In Action


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