2025 State of the Club Address

Greetings Rotarians and Friends,

As we come to the close of 2025, let’s take a moment to reflect on where we’ve been as a club, what we’ve accomplished together, and where we are headed. Rotary’s guiding principle, Service Above Self, is something we say often, but this year the Rotary Club of Los Alamos truly lived it through action, collaboration, and measurable impact.

Throughout the year, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos hosted a wide range of speakers who enriched our meetings and broadened our understanding of the world around us. Programs featured local educators and youth leaders, tourism and economic development professionals, nonprofit and humanitarian experts, and innovators working at the intersection of technology and community service. From tales of outdoor adventures to conversations about global health, immigration, and humanitarian AI, these speakers reflected Rotary’s commitment to lifelong learning, informed dialogue, and meaningful community engagement. The diversity of perspectives shared at Rotary meetings strengthened connections across sectors and reinforced the club’s role as a forum for ideas, service, and collaboration.

This past year, our club made a meaningful difference both locally and globally. One of the clearest examples was our Meals of Hope service project in November. Working alongside more than one hundred volunteers from across the community, we packed over 25,000 meals for families in northern New Mexico. It was a community effort that demonstrated what can happen when people come together with a shared purpose. We also had many generous community provide us with financial support for this project. Anyone who would like to help close our remaining funding gap or support future meal-packing events can donate through Los Alamos Gives at https://www.losalamosgives.org/story/mealsofhope.

This year also marked an important milestone in Rotary’s commitment to peacebuilding. In October, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos co-hosted the Pathways to Peace Conference in Santa Fe in partnership with neighboring Rotary clubs. The conference brought together community leaders, educators, artists, and Rotarians to explore the social and economic impacts of conflict, the role of dialogue in peacebuilding, and practical pathways toward greater understanding and cooperation. Hosting and participating in this conference reflected Rotary’s belief that peace is not an abstract ideal, but something that can be actively built through conversation, education, and collaboration at the local and regional level.

Our commitment to global health continued through our Purple Pinky polio eradication campaign, which raised $1,229 this year at Los Alamos elementary schools. Those funds support Rotary International’s decades-long effort to eradicate polio and protect children worldwide from a preventable disease. You help support the effort by donating at https://www.losalamosgives.org/story/purplepinky.

We also continued to support Rotary Global Grants with our Global Grant Fund, where every dollar donated is matched multiple times over, dramatically increasing its impact. This year, the club is supporting a Global Grant for a mobile ophthalmology clinic in Saltillo, Mexico, which will provide essential vision care to people who otherwise lack access to medical services. Efforts like this reflect Rotary’s belief that service has no borders and that local action can have global reach. Members of the public can support our global humanitarian projects, including health and education initiatives, by donating at https://www.losalamosgives.org/story/globalgrants.

Investing in youth and education remained a cornerstone of our work in 2025. Through scholarships and student recognition programs, Rotary continued to support young people in Los Alamos. These programs reinforce our belief that developing ethical leadership and opportunity for youth is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen our community for the future. Juniors and seniors can apply for our 2026 scholarships now through their high school counselor and middle school students will have the opportunity to participate in our Four-Way Test Essay Contest in February.

Rotary Youth Exchange remained a vital part of our work this year. By supporting international student exchanges, Rotary helps young people develop cultural understanding, leadership skills, and lifelong global connections. These exchanges foster mutual respect and goodwill by allowing students to experience life in another country while serving as ambassadors for their home communities, reflecting our long-standing commitment to peace, education, and cross-cultural understanding, and it continues to be one of the most impactful ways we invest in the next generation of global leaders.

Another highlight of the past year was our District’s hosting of our Rotary Zone Institute in October, an event that brought Rotarians from across the western U.S. and Canada to New Mexico for learning, collaboration, and fellowship. Hosting the Zone Conference placed our state at the center of Rotary leadership and innovation and provided an opportunity to showcase the strength of New Mexico clubs and the impact of service projects throughout the Southwest. For local Rotarians, the conference offered valuable professional development, deeper connection to Rotary’s broader mission, and the chance to share best practices while highlighting New Mexico’s hospitality and commitment to service.

Behind these visible accomplishments was a focus on strengthening the foundation of the club itself. The board worked to address membership engagement and recognized Linda Hull and Alison Pannell with honorary memberships. These efforts may not always be visible, but they are essential to keeping Rotary effective, transparent, and sustainable.

At the same time, it is important to acknowledge where we need support. Like many volunteer organizations, we face challenges related to membership growth, volunteer capacity, and fundraising sustainability. These challenges are also opportunities. Rotary is strongest when new people bring fresh energy, new ideas, and diverse perspectives, whether as members, volunteers, or community partners. You can find out more about membership at https://rotarylosalamos.org.

Looking ahead to 2026, we are excited about what’s coming. Beginning next year, the club will adopt a new meeting format, gathering twice a month—once during the day and once in the evening at rotating local venues—to make participation more accessible. Major events on the horizon include the Sheriff’s Posse Pancake Breakfast in January, Crab Fest in February, an Earth Day community cleanup in April, Noche Mexicana in May, and continued expansion of youth, service, and international projects. Volunteer opportunities for upcoming events, including fundraisers and service projects, are regularly posted through Volunteer Los Alamos at https://www.volunteerlosalamos.org. All events are posted at https://rotarylosalamos.org/calendar.

I want to close by extending an open invitation to the community. The Rotary Club of Los Alamos is not a closed circle, but a community service organization powered by participation. We invite residents to attend a meeting, volunteer at a service project, support a fundraiser, or simply learn more about what Rotary does. Information about meetings, events, donations, and volunteer opportunities can be found at https://www.rotarylosalamos.org. You can also follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter through the website to stay informed about upcoming special events and ways to get involved.

As we enter 2026, we do so with gratitude, optimism, and a renewed commitment to service. Thank you to our members, volunteers, partners, and the greater Los Alamos community for making this year of impact possible.