Welcome
Vocational Service at Rotary Club of Guelph
WELCOME
Vocational Service Leaders 2025-2026:
For efficiency, our club's Vocational Service activities are supported through the club's Children & Youth Services committee.
ROTARY HISTORY
Vocational Service has been a major emphasis of Rotary since its inception by Paul Harris, in Chicago in 1905.
“No matter how much we like to think that Paul Harris and his friends created Rotary for such noble ideas of humanitarian service, goodwill and world understanding – it just was not the case. Rotary was started for business reasons and professional purposes. Paul Harris had the unusual idea that friendship and business might mix and result in even more business!”
With this in mind, originally only one representative from each business or profession was invited to join a club.
“So from the very beginning, Rotary membership was based on classifications, and classifications were based solely on one’s business, profession or vocation. But by 1912, Rotarians were no longer required to exchange business with one another. And gradually ‘Service Above Self’ became the Rotary slogan."
The Forgotten Avenue of Service
Of Rotary’s five Avenues of Service, Vocational is the hardest to define, so it is sometimes called the “Forgotten Avenue of Service.” While other Avenues usually involved groups of Rotarians, Vocational Service is generally conducted by individual members “encouraging and fostering high ethical standards.”
Today in the Rotary world and specifically in the Rotary Club of Guelph, all individuals, regardless of their occupation, are welcomed if they are willing to serve our community.
But it is interesting to consider how one serves, based on one’s “vocation”. We all bring different expertise to the club, and complement one another. Consequently we grow as individuals and as team members working towards community and club goals.
All new Rotarians are expected to present a “Classification Talk” that helps members get to know one another better and helps new members focus on how they can best serve the community with the talents and expertise they have developed thus far in their working and personal life. (These days, our club refers to this as a Getting To Know You talk.)
Rotarians also have a lot to share with each other, with youth and with members of the wider community who can learn and benefit from their expertise. In this way, one uses one’s “vocation” as a conduit of service.
FORMER VOCATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS SUPPORTED BY OUR CLUB
- Camp Enterprise – a 3 day program for senior high school students with a particular interest in business and entrepreneurship. For many years, the 10 Rotary clubs in Waterloo and Wellington developed and ran this program. Unfortunately, it did not “come back” after the Covid shutdowns.
- College Heights Mentoring – For many years, the Rotary Club of Guelph had an ongoing relationship with the College Heights Secondary School in order to encourage their students who often go directly into the work force from high school, using the hands on training that CHSS gives them. The pandemic taught us that our essential workers keep us all healthy, fed and provided for in many very important ways. In addition, the Rotary Club of Guelph, in honour of former Rotarian Don Bower, each year provides a scholarship to a worthy CHSS graduate, to provide a “leg up” for their continued education or work place employment. The mentoring activities did not “come back” after Covid shutdowns, but the annual scholarship to a deserving student has continued without a break.
CURRENT VOCATIONAL SERVICES PROGRAMS SUPPORTED BY OUR CLUB
- Science Fair – For over 50 years, this program (co-founded by our late Rotarian, Prof Jim Stevens) has linked university professors and high school students in promoting the use of science to learn and solve problems within our society. Students in grades 8-12 choose a particular topic and through research, provide often a unique and educational presentation in competition with their peers. Every year, our club provides a grant to the Waterloo Wellington Science & Engineering Fair to help fund student prizes.
- RYLA – This Rotary Youth Leadership Academy program teaches leadership skills to young adults over the age of 18. It is developed and presented by our Rotary District 7080. The program provides hands-on situations and case studies that encourage participants to be leaders in the future within their chosen fields. Every year, our club sponsors at lease one deserving student to attend this 4 day residential program.
- Career Education Council – The Rotary Club of Guelph was instrumental in the formation of this organization in the 1990s, and continues to engage club interest and involvement in the CEC, connecting students with workplaces as well as granting funds towards workshops run by the CEC for students.
Rotaract Club of Guelph - Rotaract is the global movement of young leaders, founded in 1968 by Rotary International to encourage young people between the ages of 18 and up to actively participate in Rotary's motto of Service Above Self. Rotaractors exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service. Each year, our club connects with Rotaract Guelph to provide support and encouragement. The Rotaract Club of Guelph has its home base on the University of Guelph campus.
- Enactus Guelph - Enactus (ENtrepreneurial ACTion to benefit US all) is a global non-profit organization that connects students, business leaders and changemakers to create a better, more sustainable world through entrepreneurial action. Enactus empowers the next generation of leaders to drive social, environmental and economic progress. There are student-led Enactus chapters at over 1,700 universities and colleges across 30+ countries and 70+ chapters in Canada alone. The Enactus Guelph club has its home base on the University of Guelph campus and is overseen by an academic advisor from the Lang School of Business. A representative from our club connects with the Enactus Guelph club as a supporter and connector, with the added goal of helping Rotary Clubs everywhere to connect with their local Enactus Club to provide Vocational Service.
Sources:
Extract from: A Century of Service (2003) David C. Forward
Vocational Service – Rotary’s Original Idea – https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net>stories
Barb Holmes and Terrie Jarvis