Every Optimist Club was formed by people who wanted to reach out to help youth and the community. People like you and me. Members of an Optimist Club usually live in or work in the community. Members have joined together to serve others and to promote Optimism as a way of life.
Each Optimist Club is chartered as a Member of Optimist International. This gives the Club the right to use the Optimist name and provides each Club with services and programs offered by Optimist International.
Each Optimist Club operates autonomously. This means they operate independently of each other. They choose their own activities, elect their own Officers and raise their own funds. A Club’s service activities are based on the needs of the community. What a Club can do is limited only by imagination and resources of the Members.
What should you expect?
Optimist Clubs do share certain similarities. This offers you, the Member, the assurance of knowing wherever you are, should you wish to attend an Optimist Club’s meeting, certain components will be the same.
The programs and guest speakers offer the Members an opportunity to learn, grow and improve themselves. The program features the youth in the community, as in the Essay and Oratorical Contests or in the Youth Appreciation Week. These meetings help to reinforce our commitment and
allow us to take pride in our accomplishments.
Purposes of an Optimist Club:
- To develop Optimism as a philosophy of life utilizing the tenets of the Optimist Creed.
- To promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs.
- To inspire respect for law.
- To promote patriotism and work for international accord and friendship among all people.
- To aid and encourage the development of youth in the belief that the giving or one’s self in service to others will advance the well-being of humankind,community life and the world.
Optimist Club Members receive as much as they give:
- The fellowship of people who get things done – and the example they set for embracing a similar optimistic mindset
- New social and working relationships with individuals from a cross section of our communities
- The opportunity to develop and demonstrate leadership skills locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally
- And the satisfaction of making a difference in lives of children as well as our communities
Whether you are searching for an outlet to help your community, personal development, or rewarding camaraderie, you’ll find what you’re looking for in your local Optimist Club. Joiners become more tolerant and empathetic to the needs of their community.
Just a few of the many projects conducted by Optimist Clubs:
- Working directly with local schools to Enhance education
- Conducting substance abuse Prevention programs.
- Coaching youth sports teams
- Tutoring and mentoring young people
- Painting the homes of the elderly and needy
- Providing food baskets to needy families
- Assisting disaster victims
- Reading to children