by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Volunteerism across America may have continued to decline in 2007, but area businessperson-based civic groups saw both increases as well as decreases in membership.
Several local organizations — the Meninak Club, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Jaycees and the Southside Businessmen’s Club — reported sustained or increasing membership.
This type of success with membership isn’t easy to maintain in the age of the Internet and longer work weeks.
“Today it’s easy for people to get home from work and turn on the computer or television and get lost,” said Jason Ramsey, president of the Jacksonville Jaycees. “We work hard to pull people, kicking and screaming, out of their own little world, so they can be a part of the community that is right outside their door.”
Nearly 61 million people, 26.2 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization between September 2006 and September 2007, according to “Volunteering in the U.S. 2007,” a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. This number is a .5 percent decrease from the previous year, but follows a year that saw a decline of 2.1 percent.
The good news for civic clubs is that persons age 35 to 54 continue to be the most likely to volunteer, according to the same report. The bad news is persons in their early 20s were the least likely to volunteer and the volunteer rate for teens revealed the largest decline in the year ending in September 2007.
“I’m not so sure how hard people at the high school level are encouraged to volunteer,” said Ramsey. “Hopefully it is instilled in them that they have a civic responsibility.”
The Jacksonville Jaycees, established in 1924, saw its membership dip in the mid to late 1990s, but has rebounded to a 68-member chapter currently. Their membership consists of young professionals 18-40 years of age.
The group organizes blood drives, housing rehabilitation, holiday gift giving, Relay for Life, and the infamous Halloween Hall of Terror in conjunction with Adventure Landing.
Members make a commitment to be active in the club through meetings and civic functions, and pay an annual fee.
The Meninak Club has been “lending help where none is available to area youth” since it was founded in 1919.
The Club’s membership is 230, and it averages about one new member a week. Despite this constant influx of new business people to the club, it has experienced a slow decline over the last five years due to age and relocations, according to Meninak Executive Director Cathy Hill.
The Meninak Club participates in a variety of civic activities including annual charity projects that award at least $30,000 to help meet the needs of young people through program support or capital construction.
Someone wishing to become a member must be sponsored by a member-in-good-standing and have the support of two club officers or board of directors. The application also requires a vote by the club’s board.
The Rotary Club of Jacksonville, founded in 1912, is comprised of 296 members and has been at, or near, that number for the last five years. About 70 of its members are over the age of 70.
The Club’s Rotary Charity Foundation donates about $55,000 each year to local non-profit organizations. Its members can also be found ringing bells for the Salvation Army during the holidays. The Club’s most recent donation to the community was the delivery of hundreds of dictionaries to local elementary schools.
Rotary membership is also achieved through sponsorship. The Club has a job classification system to ensure it has only one or two members who represent each job type. After sponsorship is secured, the club requires that three other members write a letter of endorsement. Membership is granted, if there are no objections, after a 10-day waiting period.
The Southside Businessmen’s Club, founded in 1932, has about 300 members and has experienced steady growth since taking a more aggressive approach to recruiting members.
“We have taken a much more proactive approach in recruiting potential members in the last few years,” said Dennis Williams, of the Southside Businessmen’s Club. “Before, we kind of let people come to us. But now we are actively looking for new members.”
Williams credits the variety of events the club is involved in for the increase in membership, from the speakers that talk to the club every Wednesday at San Jose Country Club to helping fund a school traveling to Washington, D.C. for its annual safety patrol trip. The Club also follows students as they progress through school and rewards solid class work with scholarships as they prepare for college.
Members are required to live or operate a business on the Southside and attend as many meetings as possible.