By Brandi McGrath Kong, Director of Member Services & Conferences
 

Service to Mankind – it’s what Sertoma was built on in 1912 and what we still proudly stand for today. Members join our local clubs because they believe in the mission work that they are doing. However, the commitment to remain a member is more than that. It’s personal. Sertomans have hearts of service. They want to give back to their community by actively engaging in volunteer activities that benefit the places where they live, work and play. 

Knowing this, the question from many clubs is, “How can we find ways to use this spirit of volunteerism to recognize current members and attract new ones?” The answer is engagement through service!

The best example of how Sertoma does this on an organizational level is with the National Service Project. As you likely know, it is our goal to get portable looping devices into hospitals, hearing clinics, schools, libraries, government offices and other public places in communities served by our clubs. 

From a membership perspective, I saw the National Service Project as a simple way to engage members throughout the U.S. and Canada into a Sertoma-wide service opportunity with a local club flavor. This isn’t something that we get to do often, and it’s made even better because it directly supports our national hearing health mission. But what excited me most was the local impact it can have. Not only does our clubs’ generosity directly benefit their hometown, it also gives them the opportunity to go out and brag about their club. Members are given the opportunity to build relationships with important local partners. There is the potential to get people who’ve never heard of Sertoma involved in an easy and applicable manner.