The Rotary Foundation is the mechanism where all funding of the good work that Rotary does comes from. It is driven primarily by financial donations by Rotarians. These are often referred to as “Paul Harris” after the founder of Rotary. Here is an excerpt of the text of Rick’s November 3rd Foundation talk at the Alamo Rotary:
Many of you have heard Cliff Dochtorman or Rick King or members of our own Club talk about their Rotary experiences such as placing a drop of polio vaccine into the mouth of a child or helping a person become mobile with a wheel chair or seeing a person smile for the first time because of some surgery made possible by Rotary volunteers and our dollars.
These are experiences that changes lives – the life of the provider and the life of the recipient.
I am reminded of a thought by Helen Hayes who said:
“Always aim for achievement and forget about success.”
I guess in many ways that embodies the spirit of Rotary. For many years I have embraced the mission of Rotary and tried to do my part to enhance the vision. I have often thought of Helen Keller’s admonition that:
“The greatest tragedy in life is people who have sight but no vision.”
Many of us in Alamo Rotary have learned how valuable hope is to those who have little else. As we learn of opportunities for Service Above Self throughout the world, we learn to never deprive someone of hope for it may be all they have.
I don’t intend to put a damper on the Thanksgiving meal we will enjoy, but please consider there are millions of children and adults who go to sleep each night hungry because they do not have enough to eat. Perhaps we need to share more. We can take pride in knowing that as Rotarians, we are helping to alleviate hunger through projects funded as a part of our Health, Hunger and Humanity initiative. I am even more enthusiastic when Rotary participates with villagers to provide farming know how, equipment and supplies so they can grow their own food. We are showing these people how much we care and share.
We drink water everyday both because we like it and because our health experts tell us it is good for us. We bathe in it, use it to wash our cars, water our lawns, fill our pools, cook our food, wash our clothes and on and on. And, all we have to do is turn the faucet and pure water appears. But, as I have journeyed thru life I have learned that millions of people die each year from dysentery caused by polluted water. Many villages have no fresh water. They may have a stream, but it is used to bathe in, wash clothes in and to bail from to take water home for cooking and drinking. And, sanitary facilities may be located close by, further polluting this valuable resource. It is truly sad that 5,000 children in the world under age 5 die every day from unsafe water and poor sanitation. We can change that.
Long ago I also learned that Rotarians don’t know something can’t be done. They just do it. Many of you will remember that our Club partnered with Rotary International, as many other Clubs have done, and we provided funds to dig a well. And now at least one more village has fresh water. Richard Evans, a clergyman, noted:
“We can’t do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere.”
We in our small Club can feel good knowing that at least one small village has fresh water. We can feel especially good knowing that we have saved the lives of perhaps hundreds of children and adults because we helped overcome the source of dysentery, which can be fatal.
What do you suppose we could do with a brick? Certainly not much with one brick. But, I got to thinking that at 75 cents per brick, I could provide 133 bricks with an annual $100 Paul Harris contribution. And, if my 133 bricks were added to the bricks provided by other Rotarians in our Club and other Clubs, we would very quickly have a huge pile of bricks and could build something really important like a health clinic. There are many locations throughout the world that have no healthcare available or if they do, it may be miles away and reachable only by foot or cart. Many of you will recall our great pride in providing incubators for babies in a small village with a rudimentary health clinic. Rotarians as part of the Health, Hunger and Humanity initiative are working to build and equip more health clinics throughout the world.
Before I leave the healthcare arena, please let me touch on one other activity that has provided meaning to my life and perhaps to yours. Earlier I mentioned a number of physical things that have added vitality to my life. I know many of you play golf, tennis, run, ski, etc.. We are participating because we have the good fortune to be mobile. What if we weren’t? How would it affect our lives? We answered that in our Club. Losing mobility – the freedom to move about – would be awful. We were challenged and responded by participating with Rotary and the Wheel Chair Foundation to provide a number of wheel chairs to children and adults throughout the world. What a thrill to see the pictures of smiling people no longer house bound.
Winfield Dunn, a politician, once observed:
“The happiest people I know are those who have learned to live beyond their own special interests by discovering the rewards that come from giving of themselves.”
The Rotary Foundation is not important. The opportunity to save and change lives throughout the world is. The Foundation is only the conduit for us to make a difference.
Now is the time for each of us to renew our commitment to Rotary and recognize our ability to make a difference in the lives of so many men, women and children throughout the world. Giving up a dinner or night out frees up a few more dollars for our good work.
In closing, let me note that I adopted Winston Churchill’s famous quote as my mantra long ago (perhaps you might embrace it as well):
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”