District Governor's Letter to the District

 

 September is here and with it comes New Generations Month for Rotary.  This is an opportunity for us to focus on sharing Rotary with the youth in our district through the New Generations programs of Interact, Rotaract, and Youth Exchange.

Our district’s two newest Interact clubs are the Interact Club of Jenkins High School sponsored by the Whitesburg Club and Interact Club of Boone County sponsored by the Rotary Club of Florence.  Interact Clubs extend the ethical framework and service of Rotary to young people at a critical crossroads in their lives.   The Rotary Club of Pikeville has a new Rotaract club underway for the medical students of Pikeville College who will use this as a venue for medical service.  A special thank you is in order for all the clubs in our district that sponsor and participate with the Interact and Rotaract clubs of our district.   We are planting seeds for future leaders of our communities and our Rotary clubs.

Let us not forget Youth Exchange.  Youth exchange is a vibrant and life changing program that we share with the youth of our district and the world. Youth Exchange is especially impressive when you think of the gift it gives to the exchange student, allowing them to be fluent in another language and comfortable in another culture.  At the Otterbein meeting for our outgoing students, I met a young woman who had just returned from Turkey.  She had already been contacted by the US State Department because of the new language skill she had acquired.    Our Youth Exchange Chair, Jack Lundy, has been tireless in his promotion of Youth Exchange and plans are underway to develop a short term exchange with Brazil this year.  Stay tuned for this exciting adventure we may offer our district youth this summer.
 

As I visit the clubs I am impressed by the efforts made by every club in our district for youth beyond the New Generations programs of Rotary.  RC Lexington Sunrise has adopted Arlington Elementary School, RC Whitesburg is providing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and RC Nicholasville distributed ten $1,000 scholarships, while teddy bears are a gift of comfort for hospitalized children hospitalized from RC Louisa. The long term potential of the achievements of the youth in our district that have been impacted by Rotary and Rotarians is astounding. 

Let’s keep working for New Generations programs to create new Rotarians.

Yours in Rotary Service,

Kathryn Hardman, District Governor

Rotary International District 6740