Service organizations Lions, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs striving to bring on some fresh new recruits
Venerable service clubs have been on the lookout for new members for years.
But it appears that the new recruits they find might still be a little aged, like fine wine.
Longtime organizations such as the Lions, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs have chapters all around the world. But numbers are shrinking and long gone are the days of people in their 20s and 30s beating down their doors to serve.
“We are all struggling with membership and age,” said Mark Goesel, a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Chicago Heights-Park Forest. “We need to get more creative with people to get the younger members.”
At 37, Goesel is practically an infant when it comes to south suburban service clubs. He said he developed an interest an early age when he attended events with his grandfather, longtime member Robert Booth, who died in 2013. Goesel said he still wears shirts that his grandfather wore to events.
Goesel said his peers are too busy for service clubs and some people in their 20s and 30s do not even know what the Rotary Club is.
“They might know our logo,” he said.
Image is another battle.
“When you think of Lions Club, you think of a grandpa doing a pancake breakfast,” Orland Park Lions Club member Gail Anton told the Daily Southtown in 2016, saying her group did have those in their 20s and 30s at the time.
Grandpa making pancakes sounds like a great Norman Rockwell painting, but it’s not the type of image that will appeal to the Ed Sheeran, Drake and Billie Eilish music fans of today.
But it’s a pitch worth making, according to Frankfort Kiwanis President Jim Humenik, who is 53 and said his 36-member group has two people in their 40s and a majority of the membership is 60 and older.
Humenik, a former police sergeant in Frankfort, said he got involved with Kiwanis when we was a teacher at Harper Community College and challenged members of a leadership class to join a civic group. He took the challenge as well.
“We would love to have 20- and 30-year-olds,” he said. “They bring the energy and they bring new ideas and innovations. That’s really what we want. I would sell it that if you want to be involved in something in your community, it’s a great way to get involved. It’s also a great networking opportunity.”
The Frankfort group, Humenik said, has village trustees, the mayor, a circuit court judge and retired firefighters and fire chiefs.
“We have a lot of public safety,” he said. “We have a retired school principal and a current school principal. As far as networking, it’s a great opportunity.”
At one time, some of these groups had close to 100 members. Now, those who have 30 or 40 are turning cartwheels.
In the Illinois/Eastern Iowa chapter of the Kiwanis Club, Frankfort’s 36 is one of the biggest clubs, according to Humenik. Other area Kiwanis totals, according to
New members are older
The Frankfort Kiwanis group had a bonanza in recruiting and welcomed 13 new members last year, but many of them were older.
“Many are retired and looking for something to fill their time,” Humenik said. “We have those who have moved from different locations, were coaches and their children have grown and they want to give back to the community.”
The Palos Lions Club, which is 40 strong, will be busting out the steaks and roasted corn and hosting a recruiting picnic on Aug. 19 at the Village Green in Palos Park to try to recruit members.
“We first did it last summer and had current members bring in potential members,” said Herb Schumann, the club’s president. “What we offer to people is that we are good at raising money. If you have a charity you want to support, we will support that charity.”
The club has two members in their 40s and the rest 50 or older. Schumann, 68, welcomed two new members recently and they are both over 50.
Todd Thielmann, 51, is one of the newcomers and he knows the demographic skews to the middle and older ages.
“It really comes down to the ages of their kids,” Thielmann said. “I’m trying to bring in a new member who I am confident will join and he has kids who are a little older and in college now and they don’t need him around as much. He is ready and he’s willing to give to an organization like the Lions Club.”
Dennis Hyker, 69, is the other rookie Lion in Palos, and said he was happy with his commitment to the club.
“We’re all so busy with our jobs when we are doing our work,” Hyker said. “We try to do the best we can and give to charities. But when you have a little time, it’s really satisfying to see the some of the results of the things you do. You see how happy you can make people feel. It’s not a huge commitment of time, but it’s enough to keep you involved in the community more than you usually are.”
The numbers problem has been a concern for a while as area clubs, including the Tinley Park Kiwanis Clubs, have shut down.
Dealing with
the pandemic
The global pandemic is not helping matters for the groups that survive and still try to help charities.
The Frankfort Kiwanis’ moneymaking pancake breakfast was canceled in April and the group turned its attention to a popcorn fundraiser instead. The Palos Lions also had events canceled and its annual Christmas tree sale in the winter will be modified, according to Schumann. Some of the bigger trees available in the past may not be available in 2020 thanks in part to a tree shortage.
Perhaps one good thing may come out of the pandemic for the Chicago Heights-Park Forest Rotary Club, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on March 1, 2022. Face-to-face weekly meetings are being held on Zoom video conferencing and that could be the wave of the future.
“With the generation behind me, people aren’t willing to commit every week,” Goesel said. “But people could use Zoom at home or in their office and still be involved. With Zoom, people can be involved without physically taking time to drive to go to a meeting. It’s more convenient.”
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