We Are Happy to Welcome New Members

As Rotarians, our goal is simple… Service Above Self.  We extend a warm and open invitation for likeminded people interested in serving the community and the world around them.
Collegeville Rotary is committed to our entire community, extending beyond the Collegeville borough, as we welcome our neighbors in Trappe, Skippack, and Lower and Upper Providence. Many our current members live and work outside the immediate Collegeville area and include Audubon, Phoenixville, Warminster, Lansdale and Pottstown.  We are a non-partisan, non-denominational group and our members represent many nationalities, religious affiliations, professional and non-professional careers, and a wide range of ages and ethnicities.  We revel in the fact that as in our country, our diversity is our strength.
 
We always look forward to welcoming new members to our club.
 
Process to Join the Collegeville Rotary Club
 
  1. Reach out! – Reach out to us either through the link on our webpage, email us or visit one of our weekly meetings (no advance notice needed!), the first step is reaching out.  You may also choose to contact our membership chairperson. Currently,  Renji Kurup  CollegevilleRotary@Mathnasium.com  484-973-6889
  2. Coffee-talk meeting – We will arrange an introductory meeting with 2 or 3 current members of the club to give you context about our club and how fit in to the overall Rotary International organization consisting of over 1.2 million members across the globe in over 30,000 clubs. During this meeting, you will learn what you can expect from Rotary and what we expect of you as a Rotarian. 
  3. Sponsor – If there is continued interest, will link you with a club member as your sponsor.  They will walk you through the rest of the process towards becoming a new member.
  4. Get to know us – We encourage all prospective members to attend at least 3 of our meetings or events.  This will give you a feel for who we are and what we do, as well as what you can expect as a member of the club.
  5. Apply - After you’ve met the above requirements, you will be asked to fill out an application along with your sponsor.  Your sponsor will process your application through the approval process. 
  6. Approval – Once your application is reviewed by the membership chair and approved by the Club board and Club members, you will be welcomed to join our club.
 
Why Join the Collegeville Rotary Club?
 
Service Opportunities
We are an organization based on service to our communities. Collegeville Rotarians have many opportunities for humanitarian service, both locally and internationally.  We experience the fulfillment that comes from giving back. In the past several years, the Collegeville  Rotary Club has worked on numerous service projects. Some of those include:
  • Local Community Engagement:
    • Hosting the annual 5K Turkey Trot Run/Walk
    • Organizing and hosting the Halloween parade for more than 60 years!
    • Numerous fundraising events to benefit The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry
    • Providing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for many families in need each year
    • “Potato Project”. Assist Kutztown club with planting and harvesting  potatoes that are donated to dozens of food pantries in the area
    • Bringing our food truck to the Perkiomen Fair, and many local community events
    • Assisting with the opening of the new Firehouse in Collegeville, and Rambo Park in Trappe
 
  • Youth Programs:
    • Honoring Students of the Month at Methacton, Perkiomen Valley and the Valley Forge Baptist academy each month of the school year
    • International exchange program for high schools students to study aboard and to host students coming from other countries
 
  • Environmental Projects
    • Working with the Perkiomen Watershed to clean the Perkiomen Creek and remove the invasive Chinese water chestnuts from a freshwater pond in Sellersville
    • Planting trees, one for each Rotarian (and a few more!)
    • Installing Mason Bee houses throughout the community
 
  • Global Engagement
    • Participated in a medical mission in Guatemala. During which a team of medical personnel from San Francisco, assisted by Rotarians as non-medical volunteers, travel to Guatemala to perform life-changing surgeries for children born with cleft lip and palate … part of the Rotary’s Rotaplast initiative
    • Groups from our club have visited and supported programs in Belarus, Guatemala, Haiti, India & South Africa.  One member led a cultural exchange to Brazil
…and So Much More -  it is up to our imagination!
 
International Awareness and Contacts
With more than 30,000 Rotary clubs in over 162 countries, Rotarians gain an understanding of humanitarian issues through international service projects and exchange programs. One of Rotary’s highest objectives is to build goodwill and peace throughout the world via the following focus areas:
  1. Education and literacy
  2. Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
  3. Women and children
  4. Disease prevention (as an organization, Rotary has been working for 30+ years with others, to eradicate polio, and, as we say, we are  ”This Close”)
  5. Growing local economies
  6. Peace and conflict resolution
The Collegeville Club has had an opportunity to support programs in South Africa, Haiti, India, Belarus, and Guatemala.  We have members who are working on projects also in Ghana and Brazil.  (Do you have a special place you would like to bring to our attention?)
 
Professional Networking
A founding principle of Rotary was to meet regularly to enjoy camaraderie and enlarge one’s circle of business and professional friends.  In the spirit of ‘the oldest service club in the world’ Collegeville Rotary club members represent a cross-section of the community’s owners, executives, managers, political leaders, and professionals.  Our club boasts a diversity of members that make us fairer, stronger and who each widen our horizon.
 
Youth Programs
Rotary sponsors some of the world’s largest youth exchange, educational exchange, and scholarship programs. We have over 8,000 students participating in the program each year across 100+ countries.  Our Rotary clubs provide innovative training opportunities and mentoring for young leaders and their families through our Interact (for High School) and Rotaract (College and young adult) clubs, as well as the Rotary Youth Leadership Training Weekend (RYLA).  The Collegeville Rotary Club presents annual scholarships at the local schools every year. We send judges annually to the Montgomery County Science Fair along with giving monetary awards.  Youth join us in putting on the Pancake Breakfast and cleaning the Perkiomen Creek.
 
Friendship
Rotary was founded on fellowship, an ideal that remains a major attraction of membership today. Club members enjoy the camaraderie with like-minded professionals, and club projects offer additional opportunities to develop enduring friendships. Rotary club members who travel have friendly contacts in almost every city in the world.
We hope you will consider stopping by one of our meetings and join us in fellowship, service and fun.  See you soon!!!
 
You may also contact our club at CollegevilleRotary@gmail.com  484-854-1055 or our membership chairperson:  Mrs. Renji Kurup at  Collegeville@Mathnasium.com   484-961-0299