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| What We Do
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The Fort Erie Jaycees are an organization whose members create positive change. We create this positive change by pursuing the opportunities available to use through membership.
We develop as individual leaders and as team members, and positively impact the world around us. Members plan and carry out projects and programs focusing on four key areas:
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o Individual Development o
o Business Development o
o Community Development o
o International Development o
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Individual Opportunities
Opportunities for personal development are offered in the Individual Development Area. Seminars, organized and conducted by professional trainers and/or Junior Chamber members,
help members to speak effectively, learn leadership skills, improve their communication abilities and enhance their personal development. Local examples of this are training seminars,
public speaking seminars and contests, conferences / conventions as well as informal and formal social gatherings.
Business Opportunities
In the business area of opportunity, members can exchange business ideas and do business with other interested members, not only in their own chapter or country but also with a network
of almost 400,000 members around the world. Business Opportunities also give Junior Chamber the chance to enhance the economics of the community by conducting projects to increase the
productivity and effectiveness of businesses. Also contributing to this goal are visits to successful companies to learn how they conduct business; having successful entrepreneurs speak
at monthly meetings; and conducting training sessions on how to enhance one's company or work.
Other opportunities within the Junior Chamber organization not confined to any specific area include: exchanging ideas, socializing, making worthwhile business contacts, and working
alongside people of different backgrounds. By actively participating in the administration of the chapter, members also develop managerial skills, working on fundraising projects, arranging
meetings, preparing scrapbooks for awards, recruiting and orienting new members, producing newsletters and press releases, working with the media, etc.
Learning such skills as creating and controlling a budget, and managing people can give the member a whole new perspective, greatly expanding his/her
personal and career possibilities. Junior Chamber membership offers challenges that make life more meaningful, worthwhile, and personally rewarding. A lot depends on the willingness of the
member to identify and pursue these opportunities. This is one organization that supports the philosophy of learning by doing. The idea is not to look for what the organization can do for you,
but to see what you can do for yourself through the organization. Local examples include the Rio Vista Golf Course, Project Chairmen, and the Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce.
Community Opportunities
The Community Area of Opportunity gives the member a chance to work with and for his/her community. The member surveys the needs of the community and organizes projects to cater to those needs.
The opportunity to meet important members of the community and the general public is always available; however, the most valuable opportunity in this area is to make a concrete contribution
to one's environment and fellow human beings.
In this key arena, not only can members be of great benefit to their community but they also have the ideal workshop for putting into practice the
skills they have been developing in their individual and management courses. Local examples include the Rio Vista Golf Course, the Easter Egg Hunt, Christmas parade and float, Leisureplex, Library,
Friendship Festival, Live Nativity, Child ID Program / Block Parents, Army Cadets, All Candidates Night, Junior Golf and High School Bursaries.
International Opportunities
The opportunities available in the International area are very impressive. Via this area, Junior Chamber members can derive an awareness of what is happening in other parts of the world. This area
also allows for direct experience with different customs and cultures and helps the member understand fellow members and fellow human beings throughout the world. It also offers the opportunity to
contribute toward world peace simply by creating friendships across country boundaries. Examples include World Congress, Sleeping Children Around the World, Amerada, International Development
Committee Membership, Co-op dinner meetings with our sister club – Buffalo Junior Chamber of Commerce.
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| The Individual JCI Member
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Your Fort Erie JCI membership will bring you great personal benefits. It can be the means to the total development of your personality, and new horizons will be opened to you.
As a member, you will learn to do so much more than you would in other associations. In Junior Chamber, a doctor may supervise a school construction project, a businessman may chair a child health
project, a mechanic may organize and direct a seminar. In the prime of your life, grasp the opportunity to become a person with real and varied skills.
Responsibilities
As a member you should have three goals:
1. To make yourself the best member of your chapter.
2. To make your chapter the best chapter in Junior Chamber International.
3. To help your chapter make your community the best local community in the world.
In achieving these goals, you do not have specific or constitutional duties as officers and board members do, but you do have very real responsibilities. A few are listed below.
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To Be Active
Many organizations exist for the "joiner", the person who only wants to add another membership card to his/her collection. Junior Chamber membership is different; it offers
so much to its members: skill training, personal development, community recognition, and the satisfaction of being deeply involved in programs of lasting benefit to others.
However, these benefits are only available to the active member, the one who attends all meetings and who works hard on all assigned projects.
To Be Committed
There is no such person as a "good, half-hearted" Junior Chamber member. The JCI movement has a philosophy; it has goals and purposes; it has soul. It requires a commitment to its ideals
from its members, it demands dedication and hard work, and it calls for a deep understanding of the problems of people. If you can make this commitment, you will be an invaluable member of your chapter.
To Be A Contributor
There are many members of Junior Chamber who are bursting with good ideas, who are sound thinkers and who could play a useful role in the decision-making process. However, they are often silent
at meetings, perhaps because of shyness or fear of their ideas being ridiculed. Too often the really good ideas come out after the decision has been made. Your chapter needs your contribution.
Acquire the skill of speaking in public, think out ideas thoroughly, and present a reasoned argument in support of your views.
Be prepared to listen to opposition and accept any good points that are made. Aim at being a member who is listened to and whose ideas are valued.
To Be Efficient
Efficiency is one of the keys to advancement. It is important that whatever task you have, you understand what is required of you, you participate fully with others involved and you do your part
to the best of your ability. Do not be afraid to ask if you do not understand. Do not hesitate to seek help if you feel this is necessary. There is no position in the Junior Chamber movement
that is more important than any other, and each member is one link in the human chain of achievement. The organization needs the floor member who does what he/she has to do conscientiously –
it does not need those who shirk responsibility and cause failure.
To Be Dependable
The member who can be counted on at all times, the one on whom others can depend, is the member who will go right to the top. Many good projects fail because only one person let the team down.
Most Junior Chamber activities require teamwork, and it is up to you to pull your weight and do what is expected of you. At the same time, do not become so enthusiastic that you undertake
more than you have time for. Having too much to do is as bad as doing nothing at all. The result is the same.
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| Recommendations
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Learn
It is important that you learn as much as you can about the organization you have joined, for only then will you be able to participate fully. Learn the history of your chapter, your National
Organization and Junior Chamber; find out all you can about recent activities and projects. Knowing what has been done in the past will not only give you ideas but will help you learn from the
experience of others and recognize pitfalls to avoid. Study the constitution of your chapter, its structure and organization. Attend as many regional, national and international meetings as you
can; you will learn not only what is happening at those levels but also from the experiences you will share with the many fellow members whom you will meet. Above all, use every opportunity to
learn new skills and extend those skills you already have.
Utilize
Your chapter is a training organization, and you will benefit immeasurably by taking advantage of the courses in personal development, leadership, management and skill training that will be offered.
However, you must use the skills that you acquire. For example, after you learn the techniques of chairmanship, organize a project to teach leaders of voluntary organizations how to conduct good
meetings. You will get even more training and utilize your skills best by working on as great a variety of projects as possible, for it is by doing that we learn best. The Junior Chamber movement
is unique in that it permits its members the luxury of learning from mistakes, so do not be afraid of tackling something new. Even if you are not completely successful, you will find it of lasting
personal benefit when you apply what you have learned in the Junior Chamber to your work and personal life.
Organize
Being a Junior Chamber member is not entirely a spare-time activity, for being an active member of a good chapter can be very demanding of your time and your talents. You must so organize your time
that you give adequate attention to your family, your job and your Junior Chamber career while neglecting none of these. It is wise to involve your family and your employer or business associates
in your Junior Chamber activities; they will see the good work you are doing and the benefits you are gaining, and will then give you full support.
Move On
Because of its great demands, your period of active Junior Chamber life may be relatively short. When you know what it is all about, assess the time that you will be able to give to Junior Chamber
and set your personal goal, whether it is becoming Chapter President, National President, or JCI President. Plan your steps on the road to achievement, and then, putting all that you learn into
practice, shoot for the stars. However, always remember that the end of your Junior Chamber career should just be the beginning – the start of your personal service to your community and your nation.
Be a good Junior Chamber member today, and you can be an outstanding leader tomorrow.
Summary
When you transform problems into challenges that you overcome; when you set objectives for yourself that you achieve; and when you merge the talents you now have with the skills you will acquire,
you will attain personal growth that will give you a new dimension, a new outlook, a new way of life. Consider the words of Thomas Wolfe:
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"If a man has talent and does not use it, he has failed;
If he has talent and uses only half of it, he has partially failed;
If he has talent and learns to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded,
and knows a satisfaction and triumph few will ever know." |
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