One of the toughest duties I have this year as Rotary president is to manage Josh Turner’s stress level. Josh is heading up the Flags For Heroes project and along with the other FFH committee members (Lisa Youngberg, Maria Kauzmann, Matt Romanoski, Beth Desai, Doug Merritt, Bill Beachell, Sharon Prosinksi and Emad Abou-Sabe), they have worked extremely hard to put this fundraising project together in a very short period of time.
But that’s not really where the stress comes from – it comes from the fact that so few of our club members are actually engaged in this project. Josh is literally pulling his hair out trying to figure out how to get members to sell flags. And a world without Josh Turner’s hair is not a world I want to live in.
Folks, in case you didn’t get the memo, the Run With Rotary was cancelled. The Somerset County 4-H Fair where we sell funnel cakes for 4 days is cancelled. Our inaugural running of FunFest slated for September is cancelled. Although we are working on coming up with another fundraising idea for later in the year, right now Flags For Heroes is our only fundraiser. Please don’t sit on the sidelines!
How can you help?
- Resolve to help. Unless you have some extreme circumstances (e.g. health or financial issues), you can and should do something. Don’t sit this out and say “I’ll just catch the next one”. Don't say "this just isn't my thing". We need each and every one of you to do something NOW.
- If you are on Facebook and aren’t already following our club’s Facebook page, do that. Then share the post for Flags For Heroes on your Facebook page.
- The FFH committee is sending out an email template that you can customize for your own list. Send a few emails out.
- Directly ask people, get their support and then send them the link to the website (https://montgomeryrotary.org/page/flags-for-heroes-2020 - if you can’t remember that, just tell people to visit our website and it will direct them to this page. Your goal should be to ask at least 5 people.
- If you really really really don’t want to “sell”…. then “buy”. Buy a few yourself! Because we haven’t had any breakfast meeting at Cherry Valley over the last few months, the monthly dues have been cut significantly. If you are financially able, take some of this savings and invest it back into our club.
Don’t be one of those “Rotarians In Name Only”. Put a little effort into selling a few flags. It’s an easy “ask” and will allow us to continue supporting local, national, and international nonprofits via our Giving Budget. The deadline for sales is fast approaching. Don’t delay - do it today!
Rotarically Yours,
Zoltan Nagy
President
Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill (NJ)
President
Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill (NJ)