You may have noticed that there was no Bulletin last week. Much as I enjoy writing, coming up with 52 topics over the course of the year is a bit of a daunting task (unless you happen to be Judi LaPoint, and I am most certainly not she). So I decided that there need not be a Bulletin on a week we do not have a meeting.
That same reasoning led me to another change to this column. For the remainder of the year one column each month will be written by a Board member. I asked for volunteers and, as is so often the case, Pat Simpson was the first to step forward. So this week you have the benefit of Pat's thoughts. I am grateful for her willingness to take the time to prepare this column for the Bulletin.
Keep the faith,
David
President David Farmelo asked members of the Board to help out by writing a newsletter column once a month. I was the first to volunteer. This is a daunting task after years of amazing messages from our presidents. So many topics—but this one has been top of mind for me for a while. So here goes.
It is easy to become discouraged by the world around us. I know I have been. We see conflict, division, poverty, hunger, and people struggling with problems that seem overwhelming. But when I look at Rotary, I see something else. I see hope and open hearts.
Even right here in Summit County, Rotarians, together with community partners, serve a free community dinner every Tuesday; provide a Thanksgiving dinner for hundreds of our neighbors—some are in need, while many simply want company on a holiday; and help local families through programs such as Adopt an Angel, providing coats and Christmas gifts for kids. And we do so much more.
To understand the impact of Rotary, take a few minutes and search for Rotary on social media or the internet. You will find clubs around the world doing the same thing in countless different ways—providing clean water, supporting schools and literacy, improving health care, protecting the environment, responding to disasters, and simply helping neighbors who need a hand.
I especially follow Rotary in the South Pacific and its maternal health initiatives. A few days ago, I found a thank-you to Rotarians for their support of ShelterBox. They had arrived in Nepal’s flooded areas with hundreds of bags of bed linens, pillows, bed mats, and tarps to provide comfort to people living in temporary housing.
There was also a European Action Summit where clubs from Europe, the UK, and beyond joined forces to make a better world. This year, the focus was water education, with Rotary-supported scholarships helping more than 175 students from around the world advance their education and strengthen water expertise in their communities. There were 1,200 attendees. Wow.
How exciting it is that the president of Rotary International, Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, is Nigerian. Rotary is on every continent, including Antarctica, at the Argentine research base. Paul Harris would be blown away by how far his concept has traveled.
The faces, genders, languages, religions, and cultures may be different, but the underlying purpose is remarkably similar: people coming together to make life better for someone else. A world of people putting “Service Above Self.” The message is clear we as citizens of the world are more the same than we are different.
That is the vast influence of Rotary. We are individual clubs serving individual communities, but collectively, we are part of something so much larger.
In a world that can feel increasingly divided and conflict-filled, millions of people quietly, purposefully, and selflessly working together to do good gives me hope.
Pat
The Block Hotel & Commons
