“A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats”
That’s the foundation of a fledgling initiative to be known as the Washtenaw Coalition of Service Clubs. It will not be yet another club in itself. What it will be is an online clearinghouse of the programs, events, and activities being undertaken by each of the “Big Four” service clubs in Washtenaw County; Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, and Optimist.
In Washtenaw County, there are eight Rotary clubs, five Kiwanis clubs, five Lions clubs, and one Optimist Club. Each has its own mission, values, culture, goals, and meeting arrangements, of course, but all are generally dedicated to service, fellowship, and professional development.
The purpose of the coalition will be to create, maintain, and publicize a web-based calendar that will allow local persons to learn what is going on across the spectrum of these 19 clubs. Through press releases, social media, and word of mouth, individuals or groups can go to the calendar and see if anything is going on fits their interests and availability.
There are about 300,000 adults in Washtenaw County. Many of those are associated with some kind of cause or charity, indicating there is a great opportunity for this enterprise to engage people who have a “Service Above Self” ethos but not (yet) to the point of joining the few hundred of us already in a service club.
Our board has recently endorsed this effort and John White is working on getting it going. He has made some informal contacts with some of the other 18 clubs and has found them receptive and enthusiastic. He has purchased the domain name WashtenawCSC.org and has set up Washtenaw.CSC@gmail.com for emails.
The next step is to collect details on each of the clubs and make some personal contacts, perhaps at club functions or board meetings. What we are looking for is a principal contact and backup at each who will subscribe us to their social media and regularly submit details on upcoming programs and events for posting. Of course, each listing on the calendar will contain a link to more information on the sponsoring club. Following that, we will begin to populate and promote the calendar.
Want to hear more and perhaps get in on the ground floor of this adventure? Click here for the draft presentation to the other clubs and then contact John. Thanks!
