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What is the Governors' Challenge?

 

Each Rotary Club is challenged to host blood drives, participate with other groups, and encourage individual donations to its own local community blood center.

 

For over ten years, Rotary has helped our community blood centers meet the needs of thousands of our friends and relatives who need blood each day. Blood donations by volunteer donors help accident victims, cancer patients, and children.. If we don't help, who will?

 

Rotarians, as leaders in our communities, can participate by donating blood, recruiting others, and helping to raise awareness in our communities. Blood is needed throughout the year; however during the summer and holiday seasons the blood supply gets critically short. Your club can schedule drives for these times. Please, do it now.

 

All Rotary Clubs are encouraged to participate in this community service.

 

Rotarians are asked to help encourage donations amongst themselves, their families, friends, members, civic organizations, church groups, etc. We encourage cooperation with other groups. Units donated by Rotarians "count" regardless if they are given on a Rotary drive, at a joint drive with another group, or as individual "walk in" donations at a blood center. Donations from joint activities count towards your club's totals.

 

For many years, Rotary Clubs around the world have helped their community blood centers save lives. District 5790 invites all clubs and districts to share their experience and fellowship.

 

What do we do next?

 

Each district chooses its own chairperson, keeps its own records, sets its own goals, and establishes its own awards. Together we share ideas, challenge and inspire each other. E-mail keeps us in contact. Your community blood centers will be happy to help you plan, arrange speakers for club programs, provide printed materials about blood donation, and schedule blood drives. Challenge other clubs!

 

Here's what we do in District 5790

 

The Challenge started 11 years ago in District 5790. Since then we've raised almost 60,000 units of blood in our district; our work has been nationally and internationally recognized - but most important - we help save lives; more each day.

 

Using information taken from the District rolls on July 1, we divide clubs into groups by size, 25 and fewer, 26 to 50, and 51 or more. In our district the Challenge runs April 1 to March 31. We've chosen this period to correspond with the cycle of the Rotary year so that awards can be presented at the District Conference and planning can be accomplished at District Assembly time.

 

One award is presented to the club having the highest donation ratio from each group. The "ratio" is (number of units donated/membership size). An additional recognition will be made for clubs that have previously won the competition. We've used Paul Harris Fellow nominations and large banners as awards to the winning clubs.

 

The Lone Star Challenge

 

The ten Rotary Districts of Texas invite Challenges amongst themselves and the rest of the world.

 

The International Challenge

 

Districts from around the world are participating in this effort to help our local blood centers save lives in our own communities.

 

District 9300, Johannesburg area, South Africa was the first to accept the International Challenge. Since then, over 40 districts around the world have participated.

 

  Join us. There is no cost or obligation.