District Governor 5710 Vern Henricks strives to make an impact. His resume is impressive, but most notable is his commitment to serve in ways that make a difference in the world. The theme for Rotary International this year is “Serve to Change Lives,” fitting neatly with Henricks’ personal philosophy.
Henricks has stepped forward in the past decade to assist a school in Haiti financially. As a member of its board, he worked to place native-born, business-oriented Haitians into leadership. He has donated to a Rotary youth program in Haiti to provide school supplies to the children. He speaks enthusiastically about meeting with a Rotaract Club in Haiti and about a non-profit based in St. Louis that provides “Med and Food for Kids” in that country.
Now Henricks is focused on making an impact as District Governor. One way of doing so is to work toward continuity of ideas and programs. To that end, Henricks is convening past and upcoming District Governors in District 5710 for regular conversations.
He also believes that Rotarians can do better at communicating what we do, so he intends to launch a podcast where Rotarians can find updates about District activities. The District 5710 website will begin to feature the work of particular clubs each week. He encourages clubs to undertake tangible service activities because such efforts are what will attract younger adults to join Rotary.
Henricks encourages all Rotarians to attend the District Conference set for October 21-23 to learn more about what Rotary is doing locally, district-wide, and internationally.
