Thank You for Giving of Yourself

Preface

Thank you for giving of yourself!

When you joined SPJST, you became a member of a lodge-based fraternal benefit society that has been making a positive difference in the lives of its members and the lives of others since 1897. As an active member and leader, it’s your responsiblity to help ensure that the Society remains relevant in the lives of its members and the communities that we serve.

Leadership is a art. As such, it requires talent to perform. To be effective, it is essential that SPJST you be able to formulate inspiring visions and the strategies for achieving them. This newly revised SPJST Fraternal Handbook seeks to better equip SPJST lodge officers, sales representatives and active members with the guidance necessary to being effective SPJST leaders.

For the SPJST to remain relevant in the lives of its members and in order for the Society to grow, it’s important that we as leaders possess a solid understanding of the roles that SPJST seeks to fill in the lives of its members and in the life of the community.

Let’s get started by answering the simple question, “Why is SPJST here?” The fact that SPJST touches so many and varied aspects of our members lives makes that a challenging question to answer. Think about it:

SPJST is financial.

SPJST sells life insurance to protect those you leave behind. It’s an expression of love and caring and we’ve been doing it now for 125 years. Additionally, SPJST offers annuities, IRAs and Roth IRAs. Proceeds generated from the sale of SPJST life products help to cover other areas of SPJST engagement. The insurance benefits outlined in your SPJST life insurance certificate are referred to your “contractual benefits.” Generally stated, they are exacting arrangements which guarantee the payment of a death benefit to the designated beneficiaries.

Beyond these basic contractual benefits, membership in the SPJST is also defined by what are known an “non-contractual benefits.” The online benefits — SPJST Perkspot, Travel Insurance and Amazon Smile are all recent additions to SPJST’s menu of non-contractual benefits. Our bi-monthly newspaper, Vestnik, is also a non-contractual benefit of membership. The latest addition to SPJST’s menu of non-contractual benefits is the SPJST Member Services Directory. The SPJST Member Services Directory first appeared in 1995 as a special edition of the Vestnik. Then — as now — the idea was based on building relationships and creating value-added services for SPJST members and their families.

For more information on all of these four value-added SPJST member benefits, visit the SPJST website. https://spjst.org/programs/member-benefits/

SPJST is cultural.

We embrace the Czech heritage and the array of cultures that comprise our local lodge communities. Annual sponsorships include the National Polka Festival in Ennis, WestFest in West and Kolache Festival in Caldwell, to name a few.

SPJST is educational.

Through participation in the SPJST Youth Program, including Youth Achievement Day competitions on the district and state level and patriotic essay contest, youngsters between the ages of five and 18 develop a greater awareness of the common bonds that we all share; moreover, SPJST encourages its young members to continue their educational development. Since its inception, the SPJST Scholarship Program has awarded more than $2 million to deserving, college-bound youth.