Olayinka H. Babalola, President 2026-27

Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Rivers State, Nigeria

Change within ourselves is the first step toward the impact we seek to make in the world.

I remember my first encounter with Rotary. I saw a Rotarian on television. I was a teenager with my thoughts elsewhere, when suddenly my full attention was on this man. I did not know it then, but that moment would change my life.

That is the thing about impact. We often imagine it as something we create out there, in a community we visit or in a project we fund. But that impact is brought about through the change within us as well.

Increasing our impact is the first priority of Rotary’s Action Plan, and it asks us not only to do good but to do good that lasts and can be measured. It means choosing sustainable, needs-based projects over comfortable ones and asking honestly whether a project will still be serving people five years from now without us in the room.

When I say we must Create Lasting Impact, I do not mean impact that fades once the ribbon is cut or the well is dug. I mean the kind of impact that changes the person doing the work as surely as it changes the person benefiting from it. Rotary changes all of us. It changed a teenager watching a television broadcast. It has changed millions of Rotarians and Rotaractors since 1905. And it will keep changing people, long after this Rotary year, if we do the work now to make sure it can.

That work starts with membership. Impact scales with people. Every hand we add is another hand that can dig a well, teach a child to read, deliver a vaccine, or simply show up for a neighbor in need. As we approach our 125th anniversary in 2030, our goal is to reach 1.25 million Rotarians and 125,000 Rotaractors worldwide. That is not a number for a banner. It is a measure of how much more good we can do together, and how many more lives, including our own, Rotary still has the chance to change.

I have often challenged you to do better than your best. Growing our membership is where that challenge lives most urgently. Invite the colleague who keeps asking what Rotary is about. Welcome back the member who drifted away. Partner with the Rotaract club down the street. Every one of those conversations is a small act with lasting consequences.

We have 125 years behind us and a great deal of work still ahead. Let us build the kind of Rotary that keeps changing people the way it changed me, one member, one project, one act of service at a time. Together, let us Create Lasting Impact.

Congratulations and our deepest gratitude for their impact on our community to the following organizations that were awarded grants from our club this year:

First Tee Central Coast

Literacy for Life SLO

Lumina Alliance

Pregnancy & Parenting Support of SLO County

SLO Botanical Garden

SLO County YMCA

SLO Food Bank

SLO Noor Foundation Health Clinics

Pictured here left to right: Will Almas Committee member, Barbara Alarcon SLO Noor Foundation,  Grace Post Lumina Alliance, Linda WIlson Committee chair, Berni Ann Lewis Committee member, Terri Benson First Tee Central Coast, Bernadette Bernardi Literacy for Life SLO.

We recently stocked the pantry in front of Honorary Member Nancy Beighley's home following the Multi-Club Social on April 26 where attendees contributed a wagon cart of goods. In addition, the drawing at the event garned funds for us to go out and buy more supplies for for her pantry and the one located near Past President Victor Herrera's home. Please bring non-perishable food items to any upcoming Rotary meeting. Nutritious canned food such as tuna, fruits and vegetables, energy bars, soup, rice, pasta, peanut butter, cereal, and instant coffee are all good choices. In addition, personal care items such as toothpaste, shampoo, feminine hygiene products and soap are also helpful. Cash donations will be used to buy more goods to add to the pantry. Thank you!