Results from a recent community survey regarding the various civic groups and organizations are in. Residents were asked to participate in the civic engagement survey in order to gain an understanding revolved around the city’s civic groups. The online survey is the brainchild of North Royalton City Council President Larry Antoskiewicz and Ward 3 City Councilman Dan Langshaw.
The idea started when the two discussed the need for increased membership seemed to resonate from most of the city’s groups. Antoskiewicz said that he and Langshaw talked about the growing problem that these groups are having with their membership. “This became very evident during the various service club meetings, saying that many were saying that it was harder and harder to do the things that they usually do,” said Antoskiewicz. After discussing what could be done to help, Langshaw suggested the survey.
The survey, which took about three minutes to complete, was posted on May 16 and continued through the end of June. The goal was to have at least 100 respondents to the survey. When all was said and done, 243 people responded. Just over 27% of the total were aged 41-50; close to 22% were 51-60, which made up the majority of those who responded.
Of the respondents, more than 70% were aware that the city had civic groups and organizations that sponsor community events and projects. They were mainly aware of organizations, such as the North Royalton Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, Garden Club and Historical Society. Eighty percent of the respondents were not members of any of the city’s organizations.
When asked how they heard about the various events that take place in North Royalton, the majority, over 85%, said they received their information from the Royalton Recorder.
What would encourage people to join the city’s civic groups and clubs? Over 75% thought more information about these groups would help. They also felt that affordable dues and attractive benefits would be encouraging. Just under 60% said they would be interested in joining. Some said they did not have enough time to join. Some noted that they didn’t know what events were taking place.
Now that the survey is complete, the Councilmen are sharing the information with the city’s organizations. “We already have another meeting in September with all the service groups,” Antoskiewicz said, “where we can get everyone together and go over some of the things the survey told us.” He also noted that, “the survey just reaffirms what we already knew, that there is a disconnect between what a lot of those organizations do and the residents. We’ll see if they can boost their membership and continue to build in the participation on everything that they do for the city.” Langshaw noted that, “it is my hope that maybe some ideas came about from this meeting where we can partner to help better educate the community about all the great things they do and ways folks can get more involved in helping our community.”
“All our service clubs and organizations do so much with their members to help residents in need and organize community events,” said Langshaw. “They truly are the heart of civic engagement in North Royalton. It is important to make sure people are aware of all these clubs and ways to be more involved in our community.”
Upcoming events going on in the various civic organizations are published regularly in the “Club & Organization” column in the Royalton Recorder. For those who wish to contact the various organizations, the following is a listing of some of the city’s groups:
Chamber of Commerce, 440-237-6180, info@nroyaltonchamber.com
Historical Society, 440-237-3377, 440-237-6032, nrshnow@gmail.com
Kiwanis Club, 440-582-1244
Lions Club, 440-237-1981, nrlions@aol.com
Royalton Hills Lions Club, 440-838-4503, RoyaltonHills@aol.com
North Royalton Community Band, 216-661-7902
North Royalton Garden Club, 440-582-9403
The Rotary Club of North Royalton/Broadview Heights, 440-237-4137