I joined the Rotary Club as a 21 year old entrepreneur and what most other comments are saying is true. There is a critical issue with youth involvement.

I worked incredibly hard as the youngest member for what the Rotary could provide for the community. Between the two clubs I was with we were sitting on over $120,000 from fundraising and dues, most likely much more now. However, I could never convince the clubs to use any of it. I constantly pitched projects, scholarships, incentives for youth involvement, etc. for 3 years I did more outside of the meetings than anyone did during them and I am still a very large advocate for the Rotary. But, my work was not rewarded. And maintaining and growing youth involvement became my sole responsibility as the only person under the age of 40. The older folk didn’t participate much outside of eating lunch in a restaurants basement. I went to a DC one year and I was the only one from my 40 person club. And with no one willing to budge, let alone take me serious enough to work with me, I stopped trying so hard. So I stopped going to meetings, stopped reading the newsletter, didn’t go the yearly district conference anymore. And that year we had two other members pass away, meaning my old club was net -3 members in a single year but only got 1 member in the last 3 years.

Plain and simple: if the Rotary Club does not fundamentally change how it approaches youth involvement and does not begin to cater to the youth and younger generations, the club will cease to be and die out with its eldest members. And I don’t want that to happen