Meeting: Wishing You The Best in 2019!

President's Message - January
Wishing You The Best in 2019!
​Randy Soriano
President 2018-2020

Happy New Year! It has been a pleasure serving as your President! As we enter the second half of our Rotary year, I want us all to reflect on the wonderful things we've accomplished in these first six months. We’ve experienced tremendous growth in membership, increasing our ‘ohana by 37%. We’ve also launched a new Interact Club at Kahuku High School and are slated to award our first Hawaii Rotary Youth Foundation Scholarship in early 2019. Our community service and fundraising committees have planned a full calendar of events to engage our membership and create a sustainable supply of resources to fund our projects. We've lead Rotary's presence at events like NAMIWalks and Honolulu Pride. Also, we’ve identified non-profit partners, like Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center and Ho’ola Na Pua, to support mental illness, homelessness and sex trafficking – causes important to our membership. All of these things are possible through your efforts and support.

The holidays brought a time for us to really showcase our giving spirit. During the months of October, November and December our membership went into overdrive. We rallied the troops to support our member, Kathleen Merriam, as she lead the NAMIWalks event which benefits the education, advocacy and support of persons with mental illness and their families. Our members collected over 4 boxes of canned foods during our monthly meetings to aid the growing need at the Hawaii FoodBank. 

On November 24th, we partnered with our friends from the Rotary Club of Kahala Sunrise to do a Rotary Gives Thanks Day Project at Kahala Nui. To show support for our Kupuna, we spent the day painting the sets and making costumes for their annual theatrical production. 

Also, the holidays wouldn't be the same without the iconic Salvation Army bells. On November 30th, our Club joined three other downtown Honolulu Clubs at all four-corners of Bishop and King Streets to participate in a Rotary Bell Ringing Contest. Each Club was assigned a corner and asked to raise as much funds possible within an hour. Although our Club didn't raise the most money, our team of eight carolers provided the most holiday cheer by serenading those who passed by - decked in Christmas swag.

I've said this many times before but I truly believe our Club has something special. When someone joins the Rotary E-Club of Hawaii they gain a new extended 'ohana that supports them in ways no other networking organization can. Along with the community service aspect, our Club has a thriving vocational and social benefit. We've successfully grown our monthly Happ-E Hour mixer from a modest gathering of five members to a pau hana which hosts upward of fifty members and guests. 

There was no shortage of fellowship and giving in December as we provided our members with two opportunities to gather and be merry. Our Secretary, Jennifer Li, led our fundraising efforts with the creation of Happ-E Holidays - a fun Christmas-themed twist on our monthly socials. The fundraiser to benefit our first International Service Project in the Philippines was held at Mistletoe Tavern in Downtown Honolulu on December 5th. The event was a huge success and we anticipate it becoming a annual project for our members.

We culminated our year with our first Annual Holiday Family Dinner at Harbor Restaurant. Our members were able to gather one last time before the year ended to share in the fellowship of our 'ohana. ​

As we step into 2019, I want to challenge you all to continue to be engaged and find your own value in Rotary. As the Club continues to grow our leadership team has pledged to provide you all with a Rotary experience that is unique, fun, innovative, and rewarding but in order to keep the culture of our Club thriving we still need your commitment. Please continue to attend our monthly meetings and support our various projects. If it's been a while since we've seen or heard from you, reach out to a friend and reconnect. Along with our regular schedule of meetings, emails and socials, we will be launching some new and exciting things in 2019. This includes our new monthly eNewsletter, which you're currently reading the first edition of. It also includes new weekly content on our website which will launch next week. We will also be launching a Dutch Family Dinner that will now alternate with Happ-E Hour, every other month. Please be on the look out for these new ways to connect! 

Cheers to another year in Rotary! 

Best Wishes in 2019,
Randy