District Fellowship Chair- Cindy Goodman
Posted by Tonie Andrade
on Jan 12, 2016
Our Guest speaker on January 12 was Cindy Goodman. She is the District Fellowship Chair, from the RC of La Jolla. Rotary International sponsors the Rotary Fellowship program. It is a program separate from Rotary International (RI) but within RI.
There are many interests within each club and many club members travel or live abroad for extended periods. How great it is to find same minded and same interest people throughout the world.
The fellowship program was established to help unite those with similar interest. such as birding, horseback riding, cycling, doctors, lawyers, stamp collecting, quilt makers, chess, canoeing, music, motorcycles and so much more.
Go to the /rotary website for a complete list of sponsored fellowships. Each has its own website, their own meeting structure, and some have dues, bylaws. The important thing to remember is that there are requirements that have to be met to be sanctioned by Rotary.
Cindy said that she lived in Germany and Italy where she joined the RI resource International club a special interest group for international fellowship. The fellowship groups are for professionals as well as special interests. She asked if any of us were part of a fellowship. Tonie raised her hand and said she had joined the quilters and the GSE group. Cindy is part of the Travel friendship fellowship group which has members in 120 countries. She met up with group members while away on a 5 week trip from Hong Kong to Istanbul. She said it was a very good experience.
The fellowship program started in 1928 when a Rotarian wanted to learn the Esperanto language. In 1948, the yacht fellowship started and they fly flags of ships. There is a bike group that may meet one or two times per year for a planned bike ride, have a newsletter and perform projects. One weekend seven members of a professional fellowship took toys, blankets, and wheelchairs to the Museo del Tapo to 200 disabled kids to celebrate 3 kings day.
As a word of caution, Cindy said to be careful and sure that the groups are sanction for the protection of Rotary and its members. The groups need to be legitimate and good for Rotary and members.