What Does The Rotary Club Do?

What Does the Rotary Club Do?

 

Someone asked me that question once,

And I stood there feeling like a dunce!

What do our Rotarians do!

I hemmed and hawed a time or two,

Then said, “We gather for a meal

And ask each other how we feel.

Get our food and have some fun,

Chattering till the meal is done.

We get club business out of the way

And have the program for the day,

Some are good.and some are great!

And. some run on till fairly late.”

But then my friend, he turned to go,

“That wasn’t,” he said,

“What I wanted to know.”

I’ve thought a lot about this since.

What could I possibly say to convince

My Friend that Rotary does more than

meet.. Greet.Take a Seat.

then.Eat?

Well, this is how I would make amends

By explaining Rotary to my friends.

Five million children are healthy today

In lands both near and far away

Who otherwise might be lame.or dead

From polio.that childhood dread!

And hungry children are being fed

Through better ways to grow their bread.

Rotarians in many lands are teaching,

And doctors of all kinds are reaching

Out to heal the sick and lame

With little thought for wealth or fame,

And men and women are meeting the

need.

To teach little children how to read.

Youth come here from every land

In answer to our outstretched hand

To learn to know us and know our ways

Bringing peace and friendship to all our

days.

And clubs are formed in every nation,

For fellowship and conversation,

For education and information,

And practicing the cultivation

Of peace on earth, good will to all

And a speedy end to every wall

Which separates the folk of earth

And keeps us from seeing each other’s

worth.

A hundred things there are to say

About what Rotarians do each day,

In every land and every town

To lift someone when they are down

And help each other along the way.

Service Above Self.

What more can I say.

Well, if my Friend should ask again,

I’ll have an answer for him then!

 

Author: Jack Matrow, Ellinwood Kansas Rotary Club February 10, 1997