To

 

Chairman

COMMUNITY SERVICE

(Service to and within One’s Community)

What Is Community Service?

Does the fact that a man belongs to
a Rotary club make any difference in
his attitude toward, and his contribu-
tion to, his community (the locality
in which he conducts his business or
in which he resides)? What difference
does it make to the community that
there is in it a Rotary club?

These are questions asked by Ro-
tarians and non-Rotarians alike. Be-
fore there were Rotarians or Rotary
clubs, men and organizations took part
in one or another of the activities of
the community. There were and there
still are organizations for educational,
‘charitable and various other civic pur-
poses. There were and there still are
men giving liberally of their time to
the school board, the library board, the
city council, or to some other group
for temporary or permanent community
activity.

When first he hears the term “com-
munity service,” a Rotarian may
think, “I have been giving all I can in
time and in money to the community
before going into Rotary. What more,
then, can I do, as a Rotarian, in this
thing called ‘community service’?”

Understanding Community Service

To understand “community service”

one must know that service to and
within one’s community means that,
either as an individual or in conjunc-
tion with others, a Rotarian will be

thoughtful of and helpful to others by

taking an active personal interest in
his community as a group of fami-
lies and people whose welfare is a
matter of common interest;

studying his community’s needs and
problems, and how to meet and
solve them;

supporting and being active in civic,
educational, patriotic, philanthropic
and other organizations having as
their object the betterment of the
community;

drawing public attention to possible
measures for meeting community
needs not already cared for;

initiating individually, or jointly
with others, feasible measures for
overcoming specific problems;

recognizing and fulfilling all his ob-
ligations as a citizen;

serving as an example to and aid-
ing youth;

promoting good will between his
town or city and the surrounding
rural community;

promoting good will between his
immediate community and neigh-
boring towns or cities.

Rotary’s Third Object

To influence Rotarians to be thought-
ful of and helpful to others in the com-
munity is the third part of the Rotary
program.

Specifically the third object is: “To
encourage and foster the application
of the ideal of service by every Ro-

P-1