Stories

Plan projects that pack punch

Rotary Club of Singapore

Members of the Rotary Club of Singapore attach a lot of importance to projects, says James Lee, immediate past president. “They want to see the impact of their contributions and efforts on the people and communities they serve,” he says. “We keep them updated about the progress and challenges of our local and overseas projects, and we invite them to sign up and contribute to the ones they are interested in. This gives them a sense of involvement and belonging.”

The signature project of the club, which has sponsored 28 global grants since 2013, is Help the Children, serving communities in the East Java province of Indonesia. “What started as a small ad-hoc project supporting 20 under-privileged school children morphed into multipronged, multicycle global grant projects spanning the last 15 years,” Lee says. “It’s helping communities and up to 60 schools to uplift basic literacy and basic education among students and teachers.”

In 2010, a small delegation from the Singapore club visited the project in Indonesia for the first time. That trip led to an annual visit by up to 80 club members and their families. “Our participants spend three days with the pupils, teachers, and parents who have benefited from our project,” Lee says. “They come back feeling inspired and motivated by the positive changes they have witnessed.”

Lee also points to the club’s diverse membership — its 192 members represent 22 countries — as another reason that it has attracted and retained so many members over the years. “Being able to be involved in communities far from Singapore but close to our hearts,” he says, “means that we are constantly engaging our members and bringing them closer to the communities that they have left behind or are engaged in for economic, business, and personal reasons.”

This story originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Rotary magazine.