TRF Trustee
As I travel to various districts witnessing the projects carried out by clubs around our region, one thing that strikes me is the passion with which Rotarians talk about their projects. The sense of ownership and pride is evident. However, we seem to be satisfied with the outcome far too often, and not progress to creating a greater impact that we are capable of. This limits the extent of our reach.
Let us reassess where we start. Is it with a club fundraiser or a project idea? Our capacity is limitless if only we set our sights on what the community needs and not on what we can do. Need assessment should be the starting point for our community service projects. The need, which when fulfilled, creates an impact that will last and be beneficial in an irreversible manner. The Rotary Foundation always focuses on creating lasting changes in our communities that we together can bring about.
While every act of kindness and charity by an individual helps someone, it may not fully utilise our power of collective organised charity. I would therefore urge every Rotarian and every club to look around your community and identify a pressing need which, if addressed, would change lives. Large, seemingly insurmountable issues can be addressed if we collectively put our mind to it. Let us not look for projects that fit our budgets and instead look for impactful ideas that changes communities. We, collectively, are far bigger than the sum of what we are capable of, individually. Let us not lose sight of that.
Let us resolve to look for and identify needs in our communities that we can collectively resolve, to make a lasting impact. As Robert Browning famously wrote in his poem Andrea del Sarto: A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for!
A S Venkatesh
TRF Trustee