Rotary Day in Berhampur

Rotary Club of Berhampur East, District 3262, organised its Rotary Day this year through a 3-day celebration in Berhampur. It managed to get stalwarts like PRIP Kalyan Banerjee, PRID Shekhar Mehta, Past Inner Wheel National Association President Sarita Lunani, DG A B Mohapatra,  PDG Rabi Narayan Nanda with a galaxy of PDGs from RI District 3261 and 3262.

The Rotary Day concept, proposed by RI President Gary C K Huang, was simple: hold a fun, informal event that could be an opportunity to introduce everyone to Rotary. It had to help drive interest in membership, strengthen Rotary’s relationship with local institutions and community leaders, and improve Rotary’s image. The event focused on what unites Rotarians with their fellow citizens. The rich local culture of the district of Ganjam, hitherto unknown to the outside world, was interwoven into the event, and numerous service projects were launched. A business-promotion fair and food festival promoting the rich cuisines of the region were also incorporated into the event.

On the first day, Banerjee led the rally, and handed over benches and chairs to 300 students.

A session on Happy Schools and Happy Villages, where senior Rotary leaders spoke about The Rotary Foundation and its importance, was a big hit. Another seminar talked about the importance of early detection and treatment of cancer. During the three-day event, at least 20,000 footfalls were recorded, and Rotary’s focus on Total Literacy was driven home.

Conference Chairman Jawaharlal Palo, organising Club President I Rajeswar Rao and Conference Secretary Dr Sambit Beugray, under the leadership of DG A B Mohapatra oversaw the event.