In Thanksgiving for Service Organizations
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Dave and I talked about this later in the day. “Did you ever hear of Ruritan when we were kids?” “No, only Lions and Rotarians.” “We’ve had Kiwanis in a lot of places we’ve lived.” “What is a Ruritan?” Time for some research.
Ruritans have been meeting since 1928, founded in Virginia. The word ruritan is a combination of Latin words for open country (ruri) and small town (tan.) There are currently 25,000 members in the U. S. who work to improve 900 local communities. The organization is comprised of local clubs in urban, small towns, and rural communities. Seeking to create better understanding among people through volunteer community service, their goal is to make America’s communities better places to live and work. Ruritans rarely have national programs and each club discerns their own community’s needs. Most Ruritan Clubs work with local FFA, 4-H, G.S. and B.S.
The Lions Club, the largest service club in the world founded in 1917 in Chicago now has 1.7 million members in more than 200 countries. Their goal is to reach beyond business issues for the betterment of world wide communities. The Lions’ motto, “We Serve,” drives their service in the fields of sight conservation, hearing & speech, diabetes awareness, youth outreach, international relations, and environmental issues. Discussion of politics & religion is forbidden. The word LIONS is an acronym for liberty, intelligence, our nation’s safety.
Kiwanis, founded in Detroit in 1915, has 600,000 members in 80 countries and geographic areas. Undertaking 150,000 service projects each year, Kiwanis fights hunger, improves literacy, and offers guidance. Their focus is on serving children, helping them grow, thrive, and prosper; their motto is “Serving the Children of the World.” The word kiwanis is from an American Indian expression, “nunc kee-wanis” which means “we trade.”
There are 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide in Rotary International. In Chicago, 1905, Rotary was founded and took its name from the custom of their members rotating their meeting places to each member’s place of business. As the club grew and they outgrew business offices they established regular meeting places, but continued the name Rotary. Their purpose is to encourage and foster the ideals of service in the personal and professional lives of their members. To meet this objective, they use a standard for ethics known as “The 4-Way Test.” They serve in the areas of local club, vocations, community, youth, and international. Rotary is renowned for the enormity of the projects they deliver, such as eradication of polio in the Philippines. Their motto is “Service Above Self.”
Can any of us imagine a life without these and other service organizations who do so much for so many? Service given freely from the heart without monetary profit is an amazing gift, isn’t it? And not just at Christmas time, but every day, all year. When you consider charitable giving, please remember all the service organizations.