JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Debbie Laughlin, president of the Rotary Club of Fulton for the year beginning July 1, just attended the 40th Annual Show Me Rotary Leadership Institute.
Rotary International President-Elect Barry Rassin from Nassau, Bahamas, was the keynote speaker for the two-day training even last weekend at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City.
The Show Me Rotary Leadership Institute comprises three Rotary districts working cooperatively. This cooperation makes it possible to attract senior Rotary leaders from around the nation and world.
Missouri has 160 Rotary Clubs and approximately 7,700 members statewide. As president of Rotary International, Rassin will lead a worldwide organization of 1.3 million Rotarians in 35,000 clubs in 200 different countries.
Each year, more than 300 future leaders of Rotary in Missouri gather at Show Me Rotary for an educational program designed to prepare them for their responsibilities in the upcoming year. They receive training on such topics as managing and leading a Rotary club, engaging members and building strong clubs.
The institute helps them become knowledgeable about topics such as the humanitarian projects of Rotary, world peace initiatives, efforts to eradicate polio, and how to assess and serve community needs. Attendees also hear from Rotarian leaders, who share inspiring stories.
Rotarians and other donors fund the Rotary Foundation, considered one of the most outstanding philanthropic organizations in the world with a score of 100 percent and four stars in Charity Navigator.
Rotary is perhaps best known as the chief motivating force behind the efforts to eradicate polio. Along the way, Rotarians, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, have made inroads in developing distribution systems for medicines and vaccines for polio and numerous other diseases which have saved, and will continue to help, individuals around the world.
Utilizing the motto "Service Above Self," Rotary members believe they have a shared responsibility to take action on the world's most persistent issues. Rotary clubs work together to promote peace; fight disease; provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene; save mothers and children; support education; and grow local economies.
Fulton has a two Rotary Club groups, including an evening group.