November has proved to be a month of excitement and challenge and is showing us at every turn why our involvement with Rotary is so meaningful to us.

We began with a successful and enjoyable Fall Seminar Day that provided both seasoned and newer club members with ideas and tools to use moving forward to increase the vibrancy of their clubs and the impact of their service. A large majority of our clubs received the Grants Management training required to allow their clubs to become certified for 2014-2015 use of money from The Rotary Foundation.

A week later our club members were deciding what they might do to assist in relief efforts after Super Typhoon Hayian in the Philippines and energetically raising money to support the work of ShelterBox, a Rotary partner for emergency relief situations. Rotarians are "buying" traditional fully-packed green boxes for use there and also supporting the ShelterBox Solution Fund that allows that agency to provide supplies as needed and is not limited to the complete ShelterBox.

Two weeks after Fall Seminar Day we found ourselves working with Rotarians in District 6460 to assist victims of tornadoes in central Illinois. I reached out immediately on our behalf to Rotarian friends in that area, and webmaster Rich Lalley posted information about where to send monetary donations to support those Rotarians as they work tirelessly to help neighbors and friends who lost homes and businesses in the winds.

In conjunction with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, FEMA and other voluntary agency partners, representatives of District 6460 are working tirelessly to assist victims of the recent tornadoes.  The single Facebook location for vetted and confirmed information about relief efforts is Central Illinois Emergency Information.  Any other Facebook page is not official or verified.  Similarly, up-to-date official information for all the state tornado sites may be found at http://www.ready.illinois.gov.  The relevant story on our district website will be updated quickly as new information becomes available.Our district website will be updated frequently to let you know quickly as specific needs change The checks that you send now are the best help you can give at this point.

Rotary International has announced officially that Membership Growth is our highest priority second only to polio eradication. As many of us in our district have been aware for several years, our clubs are losing members more rapidly than we are adding them. We must work together in every way possible to change that declining trend line to a rising one. The service that is so meaningful to us as individuals and together as clubs simply will not happen in the future if our membership continues to shrink. If every member is given the chance to be successful in a Rotary activity of his choosing, then he likely will not wish to be away from your club. If each potential member can be shown the wide array of options available to us in service and fellowship, then she likely will want to learn more about your club and become a member. If each new member is welcomed warmly into your branch of the Rotary family and helped to become involved quickly in meaningful work, then he probably will become one of your best recruiting agents for additional members.

As we work together here and in partnership with branches of our Rotary family in other places, I continue to be grateful for the opportunity you have given me.

My best wishes to you this holiday season: we have a lot for which to be thankful, joy to share and a lot of good to do.  To my family members of the Jewish faith, my best wishes also for Hanukkah,

Governor Sarah