I hope your new year is off to a great start! Here's what we are going to cover this month ...
DG’s Message
Membership Update
Building New and Current Rotary Clubs!
North Richland Hills (New!)
Forest Hill (New!)
Veterans Club (New!)
Brownwood (New!)
380 Providence Village (Current Club with New Possibility!)
Denton-Lake Cities (Current Club with New Possibility!)
Veteran-Focused District-Wide Club
Youth Services News!
Paul Harris Society Update (Do You Need a Chevron?)
Blood Drive in a Box
Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group Update
Upcoming District Events
Upcoming Club Events
DG'S MESSAGE
Someone asked me the other day, "Why are you so focused on Membership?"
Because with more members we can:
Do more for our communities!
Do more for the world!
Help our Youth!
Spread peace!
Raise more funds for the Rotary Foundation!
Build more and better friendships!
CHANGE MORE LIVES!
Here are the clubs that are leading the way in membership:
Top Ten Clubs in % Growth
Kennedale - 53% (WOW!)
Red River - 37%
Mineral Wells - 24%
Breckenridge - 21%
Flower Mound - 20%
Burleson Area Mid-DAY - 16%
Fort Worth International - 15%
Abilene Southwest - 11%
Burkburnett - 9%
Hamlin - 9%
Top Eleven Clubs in # Growth
Red River - 10 (WOW!)
Kennedale - 9
Flower Mound - 9
Arlington - 9
Mineral Wells - 8
Fort Worth - 5
Breckenridge - 4
Burleson Area Mid-Day - 4
Abilene Southwest - 4
Granbury - 4
Lewisville - 4
Even after the end of year adjustments, 30 of our clubs have shown a net increase in membership this year!
KEEP THAT FOCUS! IF THESE CLUBS CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!
BUILDING NEW AND CURRENT ROTARY CLUBS
North Richland Hills (NEW Club Opportunity)
AG Tito Rodriguez is leading the charge to form a new club serving North Richland Hills, Watauga, Haltom City and Richland Hills. We met recently with several area mayors and community leaders. Enthusiasm is high!
Everman/Forest Hill (NEW Club Opportunity)
Kennedale's Jessica Mang and Lori Glovier are leading the effort to form a new club in Everman/Forest Hill. They have held two information sessions and will continue this month!
North Central Texas Salute to Veterans (NEW Club Opportunity)
Kevin Sellers is leading the effort to establish a new stand-alone club focused on attracting veterans, and individuals with a heart for recognizing, honoring and serving veterans.
Brownwood (NEW Club Opportunity)
We are beginning the process of starting a new Rotary club in Brownwood! PDG Andy Eads is helping with this effort, as he and Ginger have many contacts in the area!
380 Providence Village Club (Current Club with a NEW Possibility)
380 is refreshing their club, reaching out to attract new members, and re-establish their impact and service to the community! They have held two meetings on Fridays at 8 am at the Providence Village Town Hall and Court.
Denton-Lake Cities
Denton-Lake Cities is investigating a companion impact club in relationship to a local realty office. Denton-Lake Cities is being creative and innovative!
If you have ideas about expanding your club or launching a new or companion club, contact District Membership Chair Kurt Bartley and the District Membership Success Team. They are ready to partner with you to GROW ROTARY!
I AM SO INSPIRED BY WHAT Y’ALL ARE DOING! LET’S KEEP IT GOING! WE CAN DO THIS!
Veteran-Focused District-Wide Club
As mentioned above, Kevin Sellers is leading our effort to start a District 5790 Veteran-Focused Club. This concept, which would be new for our district, has been successfully implemented in other districts around the country.
The Veterans-Focused Club would be cause-based rather than geographically based. Our vision is that club membership would be open to anyone - veterans and non-veterans alike - with a focused interest in recognizing, honoring and serving veterans, and veteran-related causes.
Our intention is that members of this club would for the most part be NEW ROTARIANS. Other districts who have formed this type of club report that few members come from existing clubs - almost everyone is a new Rotarian, and that is our goal as well.
The club is in the initial formation stages. Please take a few minutes and think about people you know who may be interested in this type of club. If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to Kevin Sellers at 405-503-6450, or kevins@excelmedstaff.com
Youth Services in D5790 is very active. To maintain our momentum, we need your help!
INTERACT
If your club sponsors an Interact Club, please email Steve Trine at strinerotary5790yeo@gmail.com and let Steve know the school(s), and about how many kids are in the club.
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award)
RYLA 2026 will be June 18 - 21.
Watch for RLA notices to come out in the next few days
Rotary Youth Exchange
We also need clubs to commit to Rotary Youth Exchange.
We currently have two inbound long term exchange students from Slovakia and Germany, living in Wichita Falls and Abilene, respectively
Applications for Short Term Exchanges for Summer 2026 will continue to be accepted until March 1st, 2026.
The Paul Harris Society is different than being a Paul Harris Fellow. The Paul Harris Society means you have pledged to give $1000 per year to the Rotary Foundation. It is not automatic. In other words, you have to sign up - just because you give $1000 a year does not mean you are automatically a member.
Once you sign up, you are eligible to receive a nifty PHS Chevron, as depicted above. However, this also is not automatic. You must notify your District Foundation Chair that you have joined the Paul Harris Society.
If you are a member of the Paul Harris Society and do not have a chevron, please email District Foundation Chair Scott Hendricks at jscotthendricks@yahoo.com.
Blood Drive in a Box!
Community Service Chair Victoria Farrar-Myers and Carter Blood Care’s Clinton McCoy have been working for several months on a “Blood Drive in in a Box” approach to organizing Rotary Club blood drives. The results are outstanding!
You can check it out on the District Website under Services training/Community Service/District 5790 Blood Drives or follow this link: The Power of Blood Drives | District 5790.
The site includes information on the Power of Blood Drives, Blood Drive in a Box, Key Facts about Blood donation, customizable flyers to support your club’s blood drive and more! There are sponsor codes for every Rotary club, to make sure your club gets credit for all donations from your members, or from anyone who participates in one of your Blood Drives!
Donating blood is a fast, easy and safe way to save lives every day. Did you know that every pint of blood donated saves 3 lives?
Blood Drives are one of our top priorities this year! We want to make District 5790 the Blood Drive Champion or Rotary! We are encouraging every Rotary Club to hold one or more blood drives this year. Many clubs are already holding multiple blood drives.
At the District Awards banquet in June 2026, we will announce the Governor’s Blood Drive Champion Club for the club with the most per capita donations!
Let’s Make a Difference This Year in Advancing the Seventh Area of Focus
It’s not a secret that our world is facing some serious environmental challenges. Why don’t we agree that we can take some proactive steps both personally and in our clubs to influence change. Let me introduce the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG.) I like to refer to this group as the “boots on the ground” for “Protecting the Environment,” Rotary’s seventh area of focus which impacts every other AOF in its board reach and importance. Boots on the ground means that ESRAG goes beyond lip service and encourages clubs and individuals to take action with concrete projects, expertise and grant assistance.
Like Rotary International, ESRAG has areas of emphasis:
Biodiversity
Circular Economy
Climate
Pollution
Food Systems
Sustainable Living
Each club, and cascading down to each Rotarian, can choose to implement choices, which in aggregate can positively affect the environment.
Identify your club’s C.E.O., Club Environment Officer. This person or small team works with your club’s committees and members to estimate your carbon footprint and find a way to reach zero. Invite your Interact, Rotaract, or other local groups to help. Estimate your club’s GreenHouseGas emissions baseline. Keep it simple at first. A typical club emits 10 to 15 tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
On the website above, there are estimators to calculate your club’s CO2 burden. Here are some ideas that your club might think about to reduce the burden:
Avoid single use items.
Share or compost left-over food.
Source your meal ingredients locally.
Offer vegetarian meals with smaller serving utensils.
Offer ride-sharing.
Reduce travel by encouraging virtual alternatives.
Select projects that help care for the environment and mitigate climate change.
Share your good work with others in your community.
Lead or participate in projects that sequester carbon like planting/maintaining trees, re-vitalizing marshes, mangroves, etc.
Lead or participate in projects that support renewable energy.
Help your community to improve building standards.
Initiate and support the circular economy.
When travel is necessary, compensate for the carbon consequences with ESRAG’s Flight Carbon Estimator.
There are tons of great ideas for action and to initiate projects on the ESRAG website: https://esrag.org/
I’m Mike Weaver, your District 5790 Environmental Advocate, and I’d really like to tell you more about ESRAG. Please invite me to be a speaker at your club meeting and be in touch to learn more about what’s possible with ESRAG. Please give me a call or send me an email to talk about your ideas for the District and how to promote environmental protection.
