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Staying Well Connected
by Susie O. Ma
 

Jeremy Penner wanted to join a Rotary club, but there was no way he could make it to meetings while working with HIV/AIDS patients in rural Kenya. Gerry Roberts is a past governor of District 5230 (California, USA), but when he and his wife retired and packed up their motor home to travel the country, he could no longer keep up his membership in his home Rotary club. When Deborah Brackney was promoted at work, her new schedule meant missing her club meetings in Denver.

Instead of giving up on Rotary, Penner, Roberts, and Brackney all found their way to Rotary E-Club One of District 5450. Their reasons for joining are echoed among the club’s 71 members.

The RI Council on Legislation voted to make e-clubs a permanent part of Rotary in 2010 after a pilot project. E-Club One of District 5450, formed by a group of Rotarians in Boulder, Colo., was chartered in January 2002. Roberts, who joined in 2003, recalls that the club had to find its own way in those early years. There were many questions and no precedents to follow.

The club now has members in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Canada, as well as the United States. An ability to communicate in English is a necessity, along with an Internet connection. The Rotarians take part in a weekly online forum, with discussions centered on a topic submitted by a different member every week. The club also holds an annual dinner, coinciding with the RI Convention, so members can meet face to face.

“Our intent was never to replicate a ‘terra’ [land-based] club, but rather to create a club that could function as well as a terra club, then to try to broaden the impact,” Roberts says. Club members must complete 12 hours of service every three months and can apply once a year for a $500 club grant to use toward projects in their home communities. Roberts has used the money to help the library system in his hometown of Thayne, Wyo.

The club also sponsors international service projects, many brought to its attention by members like Penner, who has led several efforts in Kenya. In 2010-11, the club contributed funds for birthing centers in Mongolia, earthquake relief in Japan and New Zealand, and tornado relief in Joplin, Mo. “We are an active and involved club – not just people periodically looking at a home page on a website,” says club president Thomas Green.

The e-club’s members are confident about the future. Although many came from regular Rotary clubs, they believe they are well positioned to capture the interest of new Rotarians. Says Brackney: “The only way we are going to be able to attract and retain folks in their mid-20s to late 30s is through some access to virtual Rotary experiences. We’re at the forefront of that.”

E-Club One will celebrate its 10th anniversary in April in Boulder, with other Rotarians in District 5450. “Even if I could rejoin a terra club,” Green says, “I would still be part of Rotary E-Club One.” – Susie O. Ma

 - Recent Article from the Rotarian Magazine