Local Rotarian Named Leadership Roll in Rotary District
An article from the Platte County Citizen: Volume 64 • Issue No. 25 • January 8, 2025 • plattecountycitizen.com
RIMSIE MCCONIGA
Citizen Staff
In 2008, Erik McGuire was new to the Burlington, Kan. area, and at the age of 22, he decided to join the local Rotary Club.
Over the following 16 years, and a move to St. Joseph, Mo., he has devoted his free time to the club and was recently named District 6040 Governor, 2024-2025.
When he first joined Rotary he worked for the Jayhawk Area Council, Boy Scouts, based out of Topeka, KS.
“There were a number of people who were community leaders who I met through this Rotary club who helped expand opportunities for Scouting, and also provided me with a chance to learn more about the local community and the projects of Rotary around the world,” McGuire said.
When he moved to St. Joseph to work for the Pony Express Council, Boy Scouts, he then joined the Rotary Club of St. Joseph East in 2012. This club is one of three Rotary clubs in the town.
Having been involved in Rotary since 2008, he definitely wanted to find a club in St. Joseph to join. After visiting each of them, the Eastside St. Joseph club seemed like the best fit, due to their combination of diverse membership, community service, and a fun atmosphere.
“I still work for the Pony Express Council and the involvement in the Eastside St. Joseph Club has been a highlight of my time here,” McGuire said. “My job with the Scouts involves leading the growth and success of Scouting in the St. Joseph and Northeast Kansas areas. This includes assisting Cub Scout packs and Scouts BSA troops with new member recruitment, facilitating leader training, leading the annual popcorn sale, leading the annual fundraising campaign for the Council, assisting with the summer camp operations at Camp Geiger, and more.”
Rotary initiatives that appeal to McGuire include many. He is most drawn to those that are dedicated to preventing disease, protecting the environment promoting literacy, and Shoes for Orphan Souls.
Rotary’s Shoes for Orphan Souls began 24 years ago in Northern Missouri as an initiative of District Governor Larry Lunsford to get every club across the district to collect shoes, socks, and donations for Buckner International, which provides humanitarian service around the world. Since 2001, more than 200,000 pairs of shoes have been collected.
“One of Rotary’s largest, long-term projects is the eradication of polio, which began as a Rotary project in around 1985, and continues to the present day,” McGuire said. “This continues to be a challenge in the midst of unstable conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and sadly, political actors who spread disinformation about the polio vaccine here at home.”
The Rotary Club of St. Joseph East and District 6040 also participate in several exchanges with Rotary members in other countries, including Australia, Dominican Republic, Malawi, and others.
“Our club currently has a student who is from Oregon, Mo. on a Rotary Youth Exchange to Thailand for the entire school year, and in return a student from Thailand is staying in Kirksville and being hosted by local residents there,” McGuire said.
When his time as club President came to an end, McGuire was asked by a District Governor from Chillicothe if he would serve as an Assistant District Governor for the St. Joseph and Savannah area clubs.
“That was a three-year term, and then I was asked if I’d consider applying to serve as District Governor,” McGuire said. “This is a competitive process that involves completing an application and being interviewed by a panel of the five prior District Governors. Once selected as Governor, I had the opportunity to lead the District’s Rotary Foundation Annual Fund campaign, and we raised over $437,000 from across the 55 or so clubs and 2,300 members that were in the district at the time. The money that was raised during that campaign is available for local grants and international grants this year.”
The money is spent on projects such as improving a rest area for residents at the St. Joseph YWCA, anti-bullying programs for nine-year-old girls in St. Joseph, Kirksville, and Chillicothe, providing medical supplies to 12 hospitals in rural Zambia, and developing a butterfly pollinator garden at Michael Gunn Park in Platte County.
“The Paul Harris Society is a big part of our district being able to raise these funds; members of the Paul Harris Society pledge to give $1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation per year for as long as they are able,” McGuire said. “I’ve been a part of this society since around 2017.”
His 17-year commitment to the Rotary Club has included serving in many positions, including, Meals on Wheels coordinator from 2012-2013 (the club delivers senior meals for Interserv every Thursday). InterServ has been serving St Joseph for more than 100 years and has helped communities find food, shelter, and family assistance.
“I then served as Sergeant-at-Arms from 2013-2014 (collecting fines in a fun way from the members to raise money for the club), Vice President in 2014-2015 (chaired the club’s annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser), President-elect in 2015-2016 (coordinated a grant project to install a play-path at Northeast Park) and club President in 2016-2017. I’ve also written the club’s weekly newsletter bulletin since 2015 and have served as the club’s ‘Shoes for Orphan Souls Cheerleader’ several times,” McGuire said. “Our club in St. Joseph collected over 800 pairs of new shoes last Spring. The shoe project is fun, although shoes cost a lot more than they used to, so it is a challenge.”
He also completed the Rotary Leadership Institute learning program, which is provided by the Rotary district. The program involves learning more about the structure of Rotary, the Rotary Foundation, how to run effective club meetings, best practices for planning, executing Rotary service projects and more.
McGuire’s step-daughter, Maggie recently completed her Eagle Scout award and helping her along this journey as a Scouting volunteer and parent has been an added, meaningful experience for him.
“Balancing everything with work, volunteering for Scouting, Rotary, and family life requires a lot of organization and a lot of good communication and flexibility in all directions,” McGuire said. “Rotary and Scouting both share the common goals of improving the world through volunteerism and philanthropy, and being champions of high ethical standards. Both organizations also do a good job of getting people from diverse backgrounds to mix with each other in social and service settings. We can do better with our diversity efforts, and this is a continuing challenge, but I believe both Scouting and Rotary value diversity. I don’t believe that charity has all of the answers to what ails our community and the world, but if we all set a good example and do our best, it makes a real difference.”
In his very limited free time McGuire enjoys running and traveling. He has run in 10 marathons over the years, and while he might not be up for another one, he said if a 5k comes along, that will always be a ‘fun time’.
While there are many things he has enjoyed with his years of experience with Rotary, he is particularly fond of the connections the club provides both locally and internationally.
“Attending five Rotary International Conventions in Seoul, South Korea, Atlanta, Toronto, Canada, Hamburg, Germany and Singapore and taking the family along to all of them has been the experience of a lifetime,” McGuire said. “The world really is a smaller place than it seems sometimes.”
