I want to tell you about a woman who has been a member of District 5030 for more than twenty years.
Long before Rotary became part of her life, she served twice as a missionary in Zambia, Africa. There, she saw firsthand the devastation caused by the lack of clean water.
She held babies dying from AIDS and dysentery. She saw children whose lives were being cut short simply because they did not have access to something most of us take for granted every day—clean water.
Those experiences never left her.
And then she found Rotary. Or, maybe Rotary found her.
In Rotary, she found a place where ordinary people could come together and do something about problems that seemed impossibly big. And in The Rotary Foundation, she saw the possibility of helping provide clean water to families and children like those she had known in Zambia.
There was just one problem.
At the time, she could afford her Rotary dues, but she really couldn’t afford to make a donation to The Rotary Foundation.
So, she took on an extra job.
One night a week, she cleaned offices. She would work until around midnight, go home and sleep for a few hours, then get up at 6:00 the next morning, put herself together, and head to her 7:15 Rotary meeting.
She would sit among fellow Rotarians who had no idea that just hours earlier, she had been the woman cleaning their offices—and yes, their bathrooms.
Little by little, those extra dollars went to The Rotary Foundation.
Eventually, she earned her first Paul Harris Fellow.
She chose to receive it quietly and privately. At that point in her Rotary journey, she was still a little intimidated by the accomplished people around her. In her mind, she was “just the cleaning lady.”
Later, she learned something about Paul Harris that changed the way she saw herself.
He believed in the dignity of all occupations.
Your title doesn’t determine your value.
Your service does.
That woman stayed in Rotary. She learned, served, made mistakes, grew, and eventually earned what I like to call her leadership degree from the University of Rotary.
More than twenty years later, Rotary is still her purpose.
I would love to introduce her to you—but you already know her.
This is my story.
And this is why The Rotary Foundation matters so deeply to me.
It isn’t simply a fund we donate to. I know what those dollars can become.
They become clean water.
They become healthier children and stronger communities.
They become peace, education, disease prevention, opportunity and hope.
They give Rotarians like us the ability to look at something in the world that breaks our hearts and say, “We can do something about this.”
On Friday, October 16, I hope you will join me at the Rotary District 5030 Rotary Foundation Gala at the DoubleTree SeaTac Ballroom.
This evening is about much more than a dinner. It is our opportunity to celebrate the generosity of District 5030 Rotarians and the extraordinary things made possible through The Rotary Foundation. We are also honored to welcome Rotary International President-Elect Larry Lunsford as our special guest.
There will be no fundraising appeal or paddle raise that evening. I simply want us to come together, celebrate, and be reminded of what our generosity makes possible.
Whether you have given thousands of dollars to The Rotary Foundation, are working toward your first Paul Harris Fellow, or aren’t yet sure where your own Foundation story will begin, you belong in that room.
Because I will never forget the woman who wondered whether the money she earned cleaning offices might someday help save a baby she would never meet.
The Rotary Foundation gave her a way to try.
And it still does.
I hope you will join me on October 16.
With gratitude,
Patricia Chapman
District Governor
Rotary International District 5030
