Nothing says “I love my town” like joining a service organization. Service clubs such as Optimists
Clubs, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Clubs and the Shriners make our communities stronger, more interesting and more engaging. But are they dying out?
Joe Stumpe & Ron Helten
Decades ago, membership in such clubs was thriving, serving as the backbone of community life in America. But today, many clubs find themselves confronting a landscape that has changed over the years. Self-reported numbers from many of these organizations show that they are losing members faster than they can replace them, as older members are dying and the clubs compete for the participation of busy younger individuals balancing demanding careers and raising families.
Experts suggest other reasons for declining club memberships as well. That includes greater mobility among the working class and roots in communities that are not as deep, and the fact that we often entertain ourselves in solitary settings such as watching television, playing games or viewing church services on our cell phones. Networking opportunities for professionals have changed, too, as remote work in a post-COVID era has resulted in connections now often made online by signing into Facebook or LinkedIn. The result? People are moving away from some traditional in-person organizations.
“There used to be eight Optimist Clubs in and around Wichita, now there are only three,” said Ron Helten, 81, past president of the West Optimist Club in Wichita. “Our club has gone from about 40 members 10 or 15 years ago to 13 presently. If things don’t change, we won’t be here in three to five years.”
Helten said that most of the membership of the West Optimist Club contains older adults, and the organization needs to attract a younger audience to help grow its ranks for the long term. But it’s a challenge: Individuals in their 20s or 30s are often raising children, which creates conflicts in time with the many school and extracurricular activities kids are often involved in.
Helten would like to see more individuals of all ages consider joining civic clubs such as the West Optimists.
“We really need the younger members to keep the organization going.”
But the club boasts a robust list of charitable work, with an emphasis on being “a friend of youth.” One project is Unsung Heroes, a program founded by one of its members more than 40 years ago that is now an annual joint program of all Wichita area Optimist Clubs. The clubs recognize high school youths who have overcome serious personal or family hardships and turned their lives around to work toward being outstanding citizens of the community.
The West Optimist Club provides support to youth programs at the Wichita YMCA. Between 2018 and 2023, Optimists contributed $18,000 to help initiate and establish the aquatics program serving special needs children at the West YMCA. The organization also supports Boy Scouts’ programs, Catholic Charities ministries and many other nonprofit efforts.
Civic clubs typically raise money through dues paid by members and fundraising activities — golf tournaments and other sporting events, Bingo nights and more.
“By supporting these and other select projects, the West Optimist Club of Wichita fulfills its pledge to assist youth and our community,” Helten said.
Bucking the Trend
One organization that seems to be bucking the trend of declining membership is the Rotary Club of Wichita. Elizabeth Cochran, executive director, said Rotary membership is up 17% over the last few years, with nearly 400 active members. The club focuses on working and retired professionals who care about their community.
Elizabeth
Cochran
Cochran believes the growth of the organization comes in part from a revisioning effort the club undertook after coming out of COVID.
“In the fall of 2022, we started a visioning process and worked on modernizing the club,” Cochran said. “We discovered that the Monday weekly meeting was very important to our members. We also need to guarantee the best possible speakers. We’ve got to make this the best hour of their week. We focus on big local and regional names to come in to speak.”
The club meets at Botanica, and Cochran says they work hard to provide quality food served on real dinnerware, not plastic disposables.
“It may seem like a small detail, but we really wanted to enhance the whole experience.”
The club did two other big things, Cochran says. It decided to scale back on smaller grants and focus on a yearly grant to fund bigger and bolder projects. The first grant was the new Sunflower Meadow at Exploration Place’s Playscape. And, the club just announced a grant awarded to downtown Wichita for its Downtown Wichita History Trail, a four-mile walking trail through historic sites of downtown Wichita, a project that should be installed fully by 2028.
Another big step the Rotary Club of Wichita took to attract new members was to modernize the design of all its visual components — newsletter, website, social media pages and overall signage — to give the club a more contemporary feel, which Cochran believes has been attractive to younger members.
The results have spoken for themselves, with Rotary Club of Wichita outpacing the growth of many other Rotary Clubs across the country.
Cochran believes the most important element the Rotary is the quality of its members.
“What we are finding as a civic club is that we are set up in a way to provide real human relationship- building opportunities, face to face. And that’s what we offer,” Cochran said. “We take a real stand for human connection, and I think that is why we are growing so much.”
Helten says that for the West Wichita Optimists, if they can get an invitee to attend one or two meetings, the successes of the club usually increase an individual’s interest in joining. The club meets weekly at Spears restaurant in west Wichita, and like Rotary, features a guest speaker.
“You used to have to pay for meals monthly whether you attended a meeting or not, but we’ve changed that to where you only have to pay for the meals at the meetings you attend,” said Helten. “If you’re an invited guest, you can come up to two times for free, and that includes the pie. We’re just hoping we can pique the interest of some new members to become a part of a really nice club.”
For more information:
West Optimists Club
Ron Helten, 316-722-8399
Rotary Club of Wichita
Elizabeth Cochran, 316-262-4375
Reach Sherry Howerton at sgaylegraham@hotmail.com.
