Submitted by Pam McKinley

An April 23rd feature article in the Idaho State Journal newspaper entitled "Rotary Clubs help each other to benefit community" told the story of how the 4 Rotary clubs of Pocatello have been working together more closely the past two years and the benefits coming from this collaboration.

All four Rotary Presidents and the Asst. Governor were interviewed for the article.  Everyone stressed how they had worked together on projects in the past, but have never worked together on the scale of their current cooperative effort. The article listed the many projects the clubs are working on to a greater degree of success than ever before. 

It was also stated that with this collaborative effort has come an attitude that has also helped with recruitment. Instead of primarily recruiting for their respective club, the goal now is to get a prospective member to become a Rotarian because there are so many opportunities. If a mystery link particular club doesn't work with a person's schedule, etc., then the presidents of other clubs are contacted letting them know the person is interested in Rotary and perhaps another club will be the right fit. Pocatello has a morning club, an evening club and 2 lunch clubs, each with their own unique character, to choose from. 

One president stated that working together has meant the four clubs are no longer duplicating efforts.  Instead they are leveraging all that the four clubs have to offer when it comes to projects of substance.

Beyond combining efforts on various projects and showing a unified front, the monthly meetings of club presidents has simply given them a sense that they are doing the best job possible of living up to Rotary ideals. Another president said, "It makes it a lot easier when we work together.  There are things we can do really well as individual clubs, but there are some things we can do better when we work together."

 

 
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