FLORENCE – Pamela Goetting, the new president of Florence Rotary Club, views a membership drive as an opportunity to expand community service. The larger the membership, the more projects the club can undertake.
“The greatest thing about this club is its people,” Goetting said. “Our people are passionate about community projects.”
A lifelong resident of Boone County, Goetting is senior vice president of Heritage Bank. She has more than 25 years banking experience in retail, commercial and private banking, working with individuals and companies specializing in healthcare, retail and professional services. She works with business owners and service professionals at Heritage Bank’s Burlington office.
Goetting outlined her priorities for the coming year at a Florence Rotary meeting on Monday, January 4. The emphasis will be on people, programs and projects, she said.
With more than 100 members, the Florence club is the second largest Rotary club in District 6740. The district includes all the clubs in Kentucky counties east of Interstate 75. Increasing membership “is how we can share Rotary with more people,” Goetting noted.
Jacob Brooks, executive director of the R.C. Durr YMCA in Burlington, will lead the membership drive. The Rotarians will compete as teams with a membership goal for each and a reward for the winning team.
The Rotary motto is “Service Above Self.” A lot of the ideas for community service projects arise from programs at the Florence Rotary luncheon meetings each week at noon at the Hilton Cincinnati Airport Hotel. For example, club members serve hot meals on a regular rotation and the club provides resource support for a soup kitchen in Florence as a result of a presentation by the Mary Rose Mission.
“We learn a lot about what’s going on the community” at the meetings, Goetting said. That leads to service partnerships with some organizations.
Goetting plans for the club to develop a signature service project that involves both club members and other citizens of the community during the second quarter of the coming year. The goal of the project will be to raise awareness of Rotary and to raise funds to address other community needs.
“If you haven’t uncovered your passion yet, I hope this is the year you find how to use your skills and talents to help the club and the community,” she told the Rotarians.
Goetting succeeded Adam Howard, a Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance agent.
