Youth Volunteerism Featured by Decatur Rotary Club

He’s a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons, but Derek V. Smith is on a mission to get young people to spend more time on volunteer projects.

Smith, chairman and founder of GivingPoint, spoke last Friday to the Decatur Rotary Club,which meets weekly at the historic DeKalb County Courthouse on the Decatur Square. The club, the nation’s first suburban Rotary Club, also announced their own charitable contributions and programs, which include planting flowers at a local park and helping South African babies.

Smith, former chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint, a data aggregation company, also predicted that there will be a Falcons season this year.

But he said society has bigger problems than a potential NFL players strike.

“Technology is growing at an exponential rate, but our ability to understand the world around us is growing at a much less aggressive rate,” Smith said.

As technology expands, Smith said it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to control content and information. Society may be relying too much on technological solutions to our problems, and young people are especially susceptible to the spell of technology.

Smith created GivingPoint to try to engage young people in serving their communities through service learning and volunteering. Through his organization, students can learn about community needs, plan or support volunteer projects and obtain grants for their favorite projects.

Smith’s message came shortly after Decatur’s Rotary Club announced their 2011 community improvement efforts for the year, which include a local park and South African babies.

In the past year, 12 Decatur Rotarians  participated in community beautification projects in Decatur and South DeKalb.  In November, club members worked in Decatur’s Dearborn Park to clear trails, remove fallen trees and plant flowers. Over the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend, members worked on homes in South DeKalb.

Earlier this month, four members and their spouses went to New London area of South Africa to provide medical help to babies, install playground equipment, and help improve sanitation and the overall living conditions for area residents.

Rotary clubs everywhere are guided by the principle "service above self," said Decatur Rotary Club President C.J. Becker, who also serves as a judge with the DeKalb County Superior Court.  "I'm proud to see our members observe and practice that principal in earnest."

Decatur Rotary also plans to give more than $12,000 to charitable organizations this month, including The Boys & Girls Club, Decatur Cooperative Ministry, Decatur Education Foundation, Our House, Girls on the Run, DeKalb Rape Crisis Center and the DeKalb County Library, which operates a branch in Decatur.

The Decatur Rotary Club is part of an international organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. 

Founded by Paul Harris in 1938, the Decatur Rotary Club is known as the first suburban Rotary Club in America.  Members meet each Friday for lunch, fellowship and a guest speaker. 

The Decatur Rotary Club supports the Decatur community through the Decatur Rotary Club Foundation, the State of Georgia through the Georgia Rotary Student Fund, and the world community through Rotary International's Rotary Foundation.