Welcome to the Sandy Run Ruritan's Website!  We are located in Sandy Run, South Carolina.

75th Anniversary Logo with new slogan

                                         Ruritan - A Powerful Force

                                         Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service since 1928

We hope that you find this website helpful and informative!

 

 

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Ruritan Mission

Ruritan is a national organization dedicated to improving communities and building a better America through Fellow-ship, Goodwill and Community Service. 

Ruritan is a community service organization with the purpose of creating a better understanding among people and, through volunteer community service, make their area a better place to live and work. The slogan of Ruritan is Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service. Club membership represents a cross section of the community which the club serves and is available to all persons interested in their community. 

Unlike most community service organizations, Ruritan rarely has national programs. Rather, each club surveys the needs of its own community and then works to meet some of those needs. Nearly all clubs work locally with youth organizations such as FFA, 4-H and Scouting. Many clubs provide and supervise community recreational centers, sponsor little league and other athletic programs, sponsor anti-litter campaigns, help the sick and needy and provide a wide range of other activities to help improve their communities. 

Of special interest to young people are two growing, expanding Ruritan programs: The Ruritan National Foundation and the Ruritan Student Program. 

The Ruritan National Foundation annually provides financial assistance to students to further their education past high school. 

In the Ruritan Student Program, many Ruritan clubs select two or more high school students and pay their entire membership (including meals) in the club for one year. The purpose of the Ruritan Student Program is to introduce students of all ages to the Ruritan spirit of Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service.

Ruritan Objectives

 
  1. To promote fellowship and goodwill among its members and the citizens in the community, and to inspire each other to higher efforts by:

    a. Getting together at monthly meetings.

    b. Working together on committees and various activities.

    c. Striving to create harmony in the community.

  2. To unify the efforts of individuals, organizations and institutions in the community toward making it an ideal place in which to live by:

    a. Recognizing the importance of other worthwhile organizations in the community, and encouraging them by:

  1. Learning more about their objectives and accomplishments.
  2. Helping them to reach their objectives when possible.
  3. Encouraging members of Ruritan to take an active part in other organizations serving the community.

b. Encouraging the forming of special purpose organizations such as PTA, Volunteer Fire Department, and Boy Scouts.

c. Taking the lead in helping all community organizations work together effectively, and contributing to community development.

  1. To work with those agencies that serve the community and contribute directly to its progress by:

    a. Studying the role of the different agencies that serve the community (County Extension Service, Vocational Agriculture Department, Social Service Board, etc.).

    b. Asking agency representatives to assist in establishing short and long-range community goals.

    c. Encouraging the community service committee chairs to invite agency representatives to meet with them to help set up yearly objectives.

    d. Determining from each agency representative how the Ruritan club can best cooperate to be the most effective.

  2. To encourage and foster the ideal of service as the basis of all worthy enterprise by:

    a. Helping all members of the club and other persons in the community to understand that genuine happiness comes from doing things for others.

    b. Providing opportunities for club members and others to serve their neighbors.

    c. Helping individuals understand that, in following their chosen occupations, they are making a contribution to others.

  3. To create greater understanding between rural and urban people about the problems of each, as well as about their mutual problems by striving, where possible, to maintain both rural and urban representation in the club membership.

 

Ruritan Organization

Ruritan National is an organization consisting of Ruritan clubs. Individuals are members of clubs and clubs are members of the national organization. Ruritan National operates under a constitution and bylaws. Each Ruritan club is entitled to send delegates to the national convention and only these delegates can change the National Constitution or the National Bylaws. These delegates elect a National Board of Directors and Officers and a Foundation Trustee at the National Convention. The Board of Directors is a policy-making body that acts on behalf of the delegates throughout the year. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors consists of the National Officers and the immediate Past National President.

The National Board of Directors employs an Executive Director who in turn employs a national office staff. The Executive Director is directly responsible to the Board of Directors. The National Board of Directors also establishes geographical areas called districts and the president of Ruritan National assigns one director to each district to assist district leaders in following approved procedure and policies of the organization.

Club delegates at district conventions elect a district governor and a lieutenant governor for each district. The district governor appoints district officers and zone governors who constitute the district cabinet. As a recommendation to the governor, elections may be held for the other district offices and zone governors. The national director assigned by the national president is also a member of the district cabinet.

The purpose of the district cabinet is to provide assistance to the clubs within the district and organize new clubs. To facilitate providing these services, districts establish subdivisions within the district called zones, with a zone governor in charge of each zone. The zone consists of three to ten clubs at the discretion of the district cabinet.

Basically, the delegates at the National Convention and Board of Directors create the policies and programs of Ruritan National. The district officers and national office staff are the administrators who implement the policies and programs.