Rotarians at the Downtown Durham Rotary Club (District 7710) are reprioritizing our programs to target our Durham youth. High dropout rates, poor academic performance, gangs and crime are unacceptably high in the East Durham area, and these are challenges the community must face.

In April Club President Phil Hutchings, together with officers, directors and members, held a strategic planning session facilitated by Rotarian Susan Ross and myself, then president-elect. In preparation for that meeting, Rotarian Ellen Reckhow urged the club to collaborate on the development of the East Durham Children's Initiative. The vision of the Initiative is to "develop the support and resources for children and families to provide a pathway to success including graduation from high school, access to college, and successful entry into the workforce."

The Downtown Club will partner with other organizations to address literacy, hunger, education and housing. Rotarians this year have committed to the following actions:

•support the East Durham's Children's Initiative, with special focus on literacy at Neal Middle and AVID at Southern High School.

•work with Habitat for Humanity of Durham to assist in the support of a new homeowner in East Durham

•coordinate with our Duke and NCCU partners to host the Million Meals packaging event this year at Southern High School during the week of Martin Luther King, Jr. celebrations.

•focus on a literacy project with Neal Middle school as part of our support of the educational continuum inclusive of Y.E. Smith, Neal and Southern.

Rotarians are involved in a variety of ways to lift up the Durham community. Barker French has been working to develop a city wide collaboration around services to at-risk, disconnected youth. Phail Wynn has refocused the energies of Duke's Durham and Regional Affairs Office to support an educational continuum from pre-school to high school. Carl Harris and Terri Mozingo continue to seek community partners to help support the public schools that need intervention the most. Reckhow has led the way to mobilize the wider community of business, education, and civic organizations to rally around East Durham. MaryAnn Black has facilitated the placement of a Duke wellness center at the renovated Holton Career and Resource Center in East Durham. Newman Aguiar is also evaluating ways to develop and support micro-lending and other initiatives that target the root causes of crime.

Civic organizations are a powerful force for change in our community. Phil Boyle, the President of Leading and Governing Associates recently reinforced to us the important place of civic organizations in making real the highest ideals of service to community and nation. "Service above Self" is the well-known motto of Rotary, and if there is one theme that catches the heart of Rotary International, it is precisely that of service: club service, vocational service, community service and international service. By targeting its resources and collaborating with organizations active in supporting the East Durham Children's Initiative, the Downtown Durham Rotary Club hopes to maximize its ongoing service to the Durham community.