Governor's Message: Reasons to Believe
by Governor Tom Ganse
Ladies and gentlemen of the Capital District, I bid you greetings, and a sincere “thank you” not only for what you do for Kiwanis, but for making your communities better places to live.
We have many reasons to celebrate and much to be proud of, but there are still some challenges that continue to confound this organization and put all your good works at risk of becoming nothing more than a footnote in someone’s history book.
Those of you who attended your Region’s Midwinter Conference heard me share some of our successes. Last year, our District was one of only eight Districts worldwide to exceed the $5.00 per member quota for contributions to the Kiwanis International Foundation. Halfway through this year, we are well on our way to exceeding that once more, and currently have the fifth highest per capita average of all 51 Districts. Why is this important? Not only because these contributions fuel many outstanding service projects that allow us to truthfully proclaim our mission of changing the world one child and one community at a time, but because this level of giving guarantees us that we will receive five scholarships for students in this District. Keep up the great work! For those clubs who have not yet made a contribution, remember, it can be made from your service account, so please don’t delay any longer.
We are making great strides to catch up with our electronic society, too. This year, we debuted a fresh, new website and put it under professional management, launched a member-driven membership database with powerful search capabilities, shifted to a paper newsletter that is distributed electronically for local reproduction by only those who prefer paper, established e-mail distribution lists, and entered the world of YouTube, Facebook, Craig’s List and other modern means of communication.
But the one accomplishment that excites me the most is watching you exceed our very ambitious goal of increasing the number of Service Leadership Program clubs by twelve percent this year. We are well on our way to exceeding that, and I am very proud of you and grateful for your efforts.
On the membership front, we have five divisions that are showing strong net growth, and another five that are stable. It is particularly important to note that two divisions that have been in a downward slide for more than a decade are growing again this year. There are dozens of clubs in similar situations, as they add new members by the dozens. And that, my friends, brings me to the inescapable conclusion that we can and will grow for greater service if we want to. But it won’t happen by itself. It takes action.
To those of you who lead the way and continue to increase Kiwanis service in your communities, I offer my deepest thanks and appreciation. Please share your successes and strategies with your fellow Kiwanians who continue to struggle in the face of some very difficult social and economic challenges. We solve the world’s problems every day. Surely we can solve our own.
With a Kiwanis Servant’s Heart
Tom Ganse
tganse@earthlink.net
