The Beach Bum had a blast meeting all the cool Rotarians from around the world at the Rotary International Convention Toronto 2018 (June 23-27). What was it like? As one fellow Rotarian said:
“27,000 Rotarians from 100+ countries all oozing “service above self”. What a testimony, if one is needed, to the goodness in the world!! Keynote external speakers talk of Rotary’s global footprint, laud our ability to take the long view, marvel at our ability to mobilize small donations into big grants and are awe struck by our fiduciary credibility.”
“Fiduciary credibility” is a fancy way of saying “trust.” That’s why BeachCorps is supporting the new MetroBethesda Rotary and Puntacana-Bavaro Rotary Club partnership to use traditional vacations to advance Rotary’s mission. Our project shown in Booth 512 of the convention showed that Rotarians trust the Puntacana Group Foundation in the Dominican Republic. The project will allow donations from BeachCorps volunteer English teaching assistants coming to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the summer of 2019 to pay for English teaching in 2020, creating a program that is self-funded indefinitely. The model leverages Rotary’s networks and does not create any burdensome costs or administrative responsibilities for any club. Tourists who have never heard of the great work of the Puntacana Group Foundation will know they can trust this nonprofit because Rotary is known and trusted.
We will also shared information on a free pilot Rotary volunteer excursion opportunity in the summer of 2018 to support local Interact (the 12-18 year old wing of Rotary) kids! We noted that are looking for a Rotary club to support these GREAT kids! Using this model as an example, we think that in 10 years Rotary could be the worldwide leader in impact travel via a simple formula based on the BeachCorps club-to-club partnership model. This model would support the work of established nonprofits who oversee Rotaract (the 18-30 year old division of Rotary) and Interact community service projects that also create educational and Rotary travel opportunities for Rotaractors and Interactors, particularly from underserved communities. The key is to get other Rotarians to take our ideas and methods and adapt them with the help of other local tour operators. (Yes: BeachCorps is actively encouraging other companies to steal our model). This new tool would also be an effective tool to recruit a younger, more diverse Rotary in countries like the USA where membership is declining.
The Beach Bum had an amazing time meeting Rotary groups and projects that we hope to partner with some day, from the Surfers Unite Rotarian Fellowship (SURF), to the Environment and Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) to the International Travel and Hosting Fellowship to the folks who write the outstanding book on growing your club “Perfect Engagement.” Plus of course Rotaractors celebrating 50 Years of Rotaract!
We love Rotary and think there’s a lot of similarity between the Rotary “Service Above Self” philosophy and our “Little Grain of Sand” philosophy. This year’s Rotary Motto has been: Rotary Makes a Difference. We sure think so!
More info for how to do your own Rotary project: david@beachcorps.com
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Sorry for the delayed response! I’m still trying to figure out how to keep folks updated! So much work for one Beach Bum 🙂