DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS

Did you ever stop to think about how much gets done simply by developing partnerships?  Even though Rotary is not a networking club, we could not get done nearly as much as we do if it were not for the partnerships that we develop with other Rotary clubs and other organizations.

As an example, Cathy Scherer from the South Whidbey Club spoke of the Moringa Tree during her program a few weeks ago.  I can assure you that no one in the club, other than Nancy Nelson, had probably heard of a Moringa tree.  The following week in my bulletin from District Governor Larry, he suggested that all clubs in District 5050 participate in this program. At last weeks board meeting, we voted to join with South Whidbey by buying Moringa Trees enough to feed a village.  The cost: $600.

A different type of partnership is one that we have with Warm Beach Christian Camp and Conference Center .  Without looking into our archives, I can't tell you exactly how long Warm Beach Camp has been a partner of ours but it has been a long time. Nancy Nelson first got us hooked up with Warm Beach shortly after she joined the club by signing up our members to help with the Lights of Christmas.  For those of us who have been volunteering for The Lights for several years, it is truly a highlight of the holiday season. For those of you who have not participated in this event, you are really missing out on something.

Nancy also introduced us to Operation Warm, and I think we will all agree that this program gives us all a great deal of pleasure when we see and hear about young, needy children who are able to pick out a brand new winter coat.  And in these economic times, it makes me even more thankful that we have made it a point to continue with this incredible project.

In a couple weeks we will be working on another partnership project when we collect food and money at Haggen and QFC that will be given to the Stanwood Camano Food Bank.  For those of you who attended last weeks meeting and heard Jeannie Ovenell speak, we are being given the opportunity to continue this partnership with an organization that provides basic living necessities to the people in our community who are less fortunate than us.  Warm Beach Camp also plays a role in this project by giving coupons to people who donate food or money. The coupons are for 50% off the cost of tickets into the Lights of Christmas on opening weekend.  This is a great example of three organizations partnering on a worthy project.

If you look at what we've done as a club over the past fifteen years, these are only a handful of the partnerships that we have developed.  And the list of possibilities is endless. By continuing to develop partnerships, we give ourselves the opportunity to "Make Dreams Real".

President Jim