 Julie Carney is a member of Avon Rotary Club and is current District Governor of District 7120. She has already visited 19 clubs in her district and plans to visit the rest all very soon. She is anxious to meet every member to get out her message of HOPE which is the Rotary theme for 23/24: Create hope in the world. See Julie's message from the District 7120 Website. Julie's first roles in Avon Rotary and in the District were focused on her passion for youth: Interact and Youth Exchange. When she sees important things that need to be done, she goes for it all in! This is the passion that has led her to be District Governor. When she first joined Rotary and heard an inspiring speech from the District Governor, she said: "I want that job!"...and now she has it.
The new Rotary Theme is all about hope…. Rotary offers hope to people in our community all day every day. Rotary makes this happen for people. We do not provide handouts but we provide steppingstones. Julie's Mom was abused and left her husband. The family had to rely on community for help so she understands the importance of Rotary and the role it plays in helping those in need. Mom taught her everything about life, and her Mom's new loving husband is everything that her father was not.
This HOPE theme is very personal to her. Hope is what got here here today. New Rotary President R. Gordon McInally is a very down to earth person and easy to approach. MENTAL HEALTH is his focus for Rotary this year. This is personal to Gordon as his brother committed suicide. Julie's daughter also suffers and tried to commit suicide twice so again it is very personal to her. She urges us to call it mental "health" not mental "illness" because of the stigma associated with illness. We need to ask people we meet every day how they are "really" doing and to be prepared to help. Everyone needs to talk about what is on their mind and you could be the person to help someone who is suffering silently.
Julie's ask of us for this year: Listen to our community! Ask people how they are really doing and offer them HOPE.
Julie and her husband Jim have been involved with youth her whole career. Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) is a week long camp at end of June. It teaches leadership skills, communication skills, etc. to area high school students supported by the local clubs. She asked past RYLA students what they can improve in the program and they wanted more on mental health. Each student needs to have their own path and should be helped to find it. She is forming a district committee to address mental health for the district. She is also expanding reach on DEI…diversity, equity and inclusion. This is not a political issue to her but just wants to be sure that we include everyone from all walks of life into the Rotary family. Thanks to District Governor Julie Carney for a very inspirational talk! September 8th is District Golf Tournament at Lima country club. She would like to see at least one team from every club.
May 3-5 in Ithaca is next year's district conference, so save the date and plan to attend.
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