Fore! (Part II)

On Rotary Leadership

Please take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of something memorable, a rare milestone for a Rotary club. The Centennial celebration is not only about dinner, drinks and dancing. More importantly, it is our opportunity to showcase to local and international Rotarians and guests the noteworthy service projects undertaken by our club.

We have the One Rotary One Philippines One for Marawi initiative which aims to provide medical, psychological and palliative care to wounded soldiers who fought for the liberation of Marawi. We have the Rotary’s Heart for Little Angels which is an initiative to provide financial assistance to young children with congenital heart defects. We have the Seeds of Change, the Sari-Saring Aralan, the Adopt-a-Student program, the TOWER Awards, the Journalism Awards and of course, the Hospicio De San Jose-Norzagaray Project. These service projects are described in detail elsewhere in this newsletter, the Balita. So please do read about them so that you may be able to choose which project is closer to your heart.

My Spouse Anna and I attended the Inauguration of the Livelihood Program of the Hospicio De San Jose-Norzagaray Project on April 5, 2019. Anna and I donated Fifty Thousand Pesos (₱ 50,000.00) as part of RCM’s share for a matching grant applicant which was awarded to our club amounting to ₱ 2,000,000.00. This amount enabled our club to provide baking equipment and materials to this project which will then allow the beneficiary-families in Hospicio de San Jose, Norzagaray, Bulacan to be taught skills training, particularly baking. This skills-training program augments the main goal of this project which is to provide shelter for deserving families from the City of Manila.

The Hospicio project, as well as the others mentioned above and other service projects which I failed to mention here will be presented during the plenary convention on June 21st proudly called A Legacy of Rotary Service of the Rotary Movement in the Philippines. I urge you not to miss that presentation because these projects are product of the sweat and toil of dedicated Rotarians who have foregone sleep and rest -- had foregone rhyme and reason – to shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, educate a poor student and so on.

The Legacy of ROTARY presentation’s purpose is not to brag about our works to others. Rather, it is to encourage and inspire other Rotarians to do the same or even do greater feat so that more will benefit. Giving teeth and dimension to our public image broadens the scope of the help we can give to the needy. The Legacy of ROTARY presentation is also apt to remind us that Rotary is not only about attending meetings and fellowships. Above all, Rotary is about Service Above Self. It is about selfless individuals who can sacrifice personal motives and interests for the betterment of other human beings.

Just as I am hooked to the game of golf, I have been devoted to Rotary for more than two decades. Like all of you, I was once bitten by the Rotary Bug – and sadly, for that there is no cure. My Centennial wish for all of you is to master yourself as a Rotarian, to pursue with focused determination the worthy goals of the Rotary Club of Manila, the First in Asia and that of Rotary International guided by the overriding motto: BE THE INSPIRATION. Enjoy the fellowship that comes after the game, but please do not drink and drive!