S  E  R  T  O  M  A

A curious word until three very important words come together in unison:

SERvice –TO – MANkind

Sertoma’s primary service project is assisting the more than 50 million people with speech, hearing and language disorders. Sertoma also sponsors community projects to promote freedom and democracy, to assist youth and to benefit a variety of other local community needs, as identified by the individual clubs.

WHAT IS SERTOMA? 

For visitors to our web site who are not members of a Sertoma Club, and who may have never heard of Sertoma, a few words of explanation might be helpful. Sertoma is an international organization of volunteer civic service clubs with over 20,000 members who belong to more than 700 Clubs in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States.

Our primary service project is helping the more than 42 million people with speech and hearing disorders. Our Clubs also sponsor projects that promote freedom and democracy, youth causes, and many other local community needs identified by individual Clubs. While each Club is autonomous and selects its own sponsorships based on its own community needs, most Clubs participate to some degree in Sertoma International’s central focus of Speech and Hearing sponsorship.

Today, through a variety of fundraising projects, Sertomans worldwide raise in excess of $20 million annually, which they use in support of their various local and national sponsorships for community service.

Many Clubs also participate in our “Freedom and Democracy” program by sponsoring local programs to promote patriotism; a favorite example is an essay contest for school children with prizes for the best essays on topics such as “What Freedom and Democracy Means to Me”. Participants are invited to, and winners are announced at, a recognition dinner where the winners are presented awards for their efforts.

The highest honor Sertoma bestows on a nonmember is the Service to Mankind Award recognizing outstanding volunteer community service. Each Club selects a winner, who competes with other Clubs’ winners at the District, Regional and International levels. The top winner is announced at the International Convention. The award culminates in a trip to the winner’s national capital, for a visit with the President or Prime Minister.

The Sertoma Foundation, an international charity, believes that universal communication, whether heard, seen, or spoken, is the key to human understanding. The purpose of the Sertoma Foundation is to support the approved charitable and educational programs of our Sertoma Family through effective fundraising, investment of funds, and the distribution of proceeds. Through the financial support of Sertoma’s programs, we become the catalysts for greater human understanding and SERVICE TO MANKIND.

SERTOMA International’s MISSION STATEMENT:
“SERTOMA exists for the high and noble purpose of SERVICE TO MANKIND by communication of thoughts, ideas and concepts to accelerate human progress in health, education, freedom and democracy.”