Optimist International started as an organization to promote optimism after the tragedies of World War 1 and the Spanish Flu epidemic, and morphed into a service club. It has grown from its inception in 1919 to an association of nearly 55,000 adult and youth members in upwards of 2,000 clubs in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and throughout the world. Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Youth, in Our Communities, and in Ourselves,” Optimists conduct positive service projects that reach more than six million young people each year. To learn more about Optimist International, please call 1-800-500-8130 or visit the organization’s website at https://www.optimist.org
Adult volunteers join Optimist Clubs to conduct positive service projects in their communities aimed at providing a helping hand to youth. With their upbeat attitude, Optimist Club members help empower young people to be the best that they can be for themselves and their communities. Each Optimist Club determines the needs of the young people in its community and conducts programs to meet those needs. Every year, Optimists conduct 65,000 service projects and serve well over six million young people.
Since the Optimist organization includes many towns and cities across the world, clubs within close proximity form Zones. Zones are combined to form Districts and Districts are combined to form Regions. The Dinner Optimist Club of Calgary is in Zone 6 (Southern Alberta) of the Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana and Northern Wyoming District (otherwise known as the AMS&NW District) (amsnwoptimist.org) and in the Great Plains Region. Two esteemed members of the Dinner Optimist Club of Calgary have been elected Governors of the AMS&NW District in recent years.
Optimist International is recognized worldwide as the premier volunteer organization that values all youth and helps them develop to their full potential.