Service Above Self: How the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu Elevates Community Well-Being

The value of life in the context of community service is deeply connected to the idea of collective well-being, connection, and contribution. Community service often centers around helping others and improving the shared environment, which can give individuals a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and meaning in their lives.

From its inception in 1977, the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu’s lifeblood has always been community service. RCMC gives importance to the value of life and centers its projects around providing service that best addresses the needs of the community it served.

Two signature community service projects that the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu (RCMC) delivers have the value of life at its core: Health on Wheels and Empower 360.

Health on Wheels is a “mobile” medical mission, in which the targeted areas are not just within the city of Cebu, but in the surrounding towns of Cebu province, as well as neighboring provinces in the Visayas region. 

Although RCMC has been doing medical missions for a long time, the name “Health on Wheels” was conceptualize just after the pandemic, to cover the areas of service centered on health (Disease Prevention and Treatment and Maternal and Child Health), and to establish RCMC’s branding for its medical missions.

The Health on Wheels project has been established as a recurring project in the towns of Alcoy (where 2025 is at its 3rd year) and Medellin in Cebu province, and the island of Jao in the province of Bohol.

Empower 360 is a community service project centered on providing knowledge, education and awareness on topics that can help the community members improve or gain knowledge and skills. RCMC members shared their knowledge and expertise in financial literacy, laws that protect women and children, waste management and environmental awareness.

The Empower 360 branding of collective knowledge sharing covers the areas of focus under the Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Basic Education and Literacy, Community Economic Development, and Environment.

Though these two projects can be delivered separately, RCMC also caters to delivering both, thereby providing a holistic community service where its members can contribute.

These projects not only give value to the life of the community members where RCMC serves, but also provides a way for its members to develop empathy, connection, growth and a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

In this sense, the value of life through community service under these projects is more than just individual well-being. It is about contributing to a shared purpose and recognizing that we all have a role in supporting the collective good.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” In these words, the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu, through its projects Health on Wheels and Empower 360, continue to embody the Rotary International motto of Service Above Self.

Written and Submitted by:  Vera “Bing” Cruz, Asst. Secretary (RY 2024-2025), Rotary Club of Metro Cebu