About Ruritan

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

Ruritan is a civic service organization made up of local clubs in small towns and rural communities. Ruritan's purpose is to create a better understanding among people and through volunteer community service, make America's communities better places in which to live and work. The slogan of Ruritan is "Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service." Club membership represents a cross-section of the community in which the club serves, and is not restrictive with regard to occupation, social position, or any other specific criteria.

Unlike most civic service organizations, Ruritan rarely has national programs. Rather, each club surveys its own community as to the needs of that community and then works to meet some of those needs. Nearly all clubs work locally with FFA, 4-H and other organizations serving youth. Nearly one in every three Ruritan clubs sponsors a Scout unit.

Many clubs provide and supervise community recreational centers, sponsor Little League and other athletic programs, involve themselves in anti-litter campaigns, help the sick and needy, and perform a wide range of services to help their communities.

Sixteen members are required to form a Ruritan club, usually with the assistance of an existing club. When a club applies for membership in Ruritan, it submits a charter application along with a charter fee. Upon chartering, the club receives supplies and assistance necessary for its organization and continuance.

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.

History

The first Ruritan Club was chartered May 21, 1928, in Holland, Virginia. Since that first club, Ruritan has grown throughout the United States of America, and in doing so, has become "America’s Leading Community Service Organization."

Tom Downing of Suffolk, Virginia, and Jack Gwaltney of Holland, Virginia, are known as the co-founders of Ruritan. Gwaltney and Downing recognized the need for an organization where community leaders could meet and discuss ways to make their community a better place in which to live.

The name "Ruritan" was suggested by Daisy Nurney, a reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper, and the club’s charter members unanimously adopted "Ruritan" as the organization’s name. The word is a combination of the Latin words for open country "ruri" and small town "tan," interpreted as pertaining to rural and small town life.

Goals and 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:
   1. Getting together at monthly meetings.
   2. Working together on committees and various activities.
   3. 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:
   1. 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.
   2. Encouraging the forming of special purpose organizations such as PTA, Volunteer Fire Department, and Boy Scouts.
   3. Taking the lead in helping all community organizations work together effectively, and contributing to community development.
3. To work with those agencies that serve the community and contribute directly to its progress by:
   1. Studying the role of the different agencies that serve the community (County Extension Service, Vocational Agriculture Department, Social Service Board, etc.).
   2. Asking agency representatives to assist in establishing short and long-range community goals.
   3. Encouraging the community service committee chairs to invite agency representatives to meet with them to help set up yearly objectives.
   4. Determining from each agency representative how the Ruritan club can best cooperate to be the most effective.
4. To encourage and foster the ideal of service as the basis of all worthy enterprise by:
   1. Helping all members of the club and other persons in the community to understand that genuine happiness comes from doing things for others.
   2. Providing opportunities for club members and others to serve their neighbors.
   3. Helping individuals understand that, in following their chosen occupations, they are making a contribution to others.
5. 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.