Reaching the Next Generation

Over the years, the world has branded each generation. We have the “Baby Boomers”- someone who was born after World War II during the year 1946-1964, followed by “GenerationX” or “MTV Generation” those born between 1965 up to 1985, then we have “Generation Y” 1982-2003, and recently those born between 1986 to 2004 were called the “iGeneration”.

Each Generation’s Title has its own meaning. Personally, understanding why the world calls our generation that way is enlightening. However, Istill believe that it’s our choice to make, on how we write our history. I have been thinking about writing this article since last year but can’t find the timing. Since Pres. Mike mentioned in his last week’s article about our club’s population trend and whywe need to consistently find new members to increase our ranks, I took it as the green light.

It always gets me excited every time I hear and talk about the next generation. The next generation represents the future. It gives us hope that things can get better and brighter. It gives us a sense of a second chance that we could correct the mistakes of the past. The vision of the next generation inspires us to give our best and make a difference today for a better tomorrow. Let me ask you: would you work so hard now if you knew it would not even matter in the future?

Last year, we had Ms. Phonexiematte Kierulf - District Rotaract Representative as our GHS. She talked about her generation, her experiences as a Rotaract Representative and being a child to her parents. I was amazed with her wits. She’s smart, personable and excellent in speech. Good thing is she acknowledges the influence which Rotary made in her life. Imagine what our future would be if Rotary will be able to influence such kind of youth leaders!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

The reason why I willingly took the responsibility to administrate the RCB Scholars is that I know that if we could correctly guide them now, they can make a big difference tomorrow. Who knows one of the students we have been supporting will end up in City Hall, in Congress, in Senate or even better... It’s not enough just to give them money when they knock on Pres. Mike’s door prior to their exam or enrollment. We can’t just let the opportunity pass by; we need to make sure that what we invested on them will not be put to waste.

Case in point, the population trend in our club should really be everyone’s concern. Someone said that “Success without a successor is no success at all.” Our club had great leaders; they are the 35% of our membership who have served as President of the club (and some of them continually and actively still serve the club). We have such high esteem for them. We have PP Johnny Zarate who’s responsible for membership classification (he rarely misses our club meetings); we have PP Diony Claridad, PPAlfred Laygo and PP Chris Peralta who lead most of ourMedical Missions; we have PP Benny Sunga and PP Lito Pangilinan leading the RCB Chorale for various fund raising and other club projects. We also have PP Ben Cid, PP Rene Ronquillo who always support the club for fund generation; while PP Linda Winter actively serves in the District and PP Veeh Balajo now giving counsel to our IP and the Incoming Board. The mere presence of PP Teop Rondez, PP Jack Gesner, PP Roger Naz, PP Doming Valencia, PP Caloy Mendoza and PP Helmut Schlaaff brings forth enough inspiration for the rest of us. Now, these are the kind of leaders we need to emulate. We need to groom the next generation of leaders for our club. We need to act today.

One of the reason I joined this club was that I saw the need for young blood. I was encouraged to take part knowing that I have a place in this club, a part where I can contribute my service. There are men and women out there looking for avenues for them to serve. How are we going to reach them? We start showing that Rotary indeed cares and as Pres. Mike said “we must show that we get things done and we have a sense of pride about the things we do get done.”

Whether you’re a Baby Boomer or from Generation X, it does not matter as long as you are a Rotarian and live the virtues of the club, it’s our responsibility to reach the next generation!

Ever wonder what the world calls those who were born before the baby boomers? They were branded as the Silent Generation. The Noisemakers of our club however disprove the title.