I grew up in Rotary!
I grew up hanging out and volunteering with my mom and dad at all sorts of events. Many of these events revolved around my dad’s Rotary club - the other club members would bring their kids so I made many friends that way. I didn’t really understand what Rotary was but I knew it stood for doing good things. It wasn’t all work! Often we had parties with food, games, and prizes. Other times it meant standing outside in the stinging cold ringing a bell to collect money for the Salvation Army. I knew that my dad was a respected member of his club and he took his responsibilities seriously. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be part of a club that did good things and a group of people that supported each other. I could see that volunteerism was something to be proud of, a way of life. My family also chaired our local community parade. As I grew older, I took over more responsibilities with the parade. Eventually, my volunteerism led to me being honored with a Lifetime Volunteer Award from the Village of Algonquin. Later, in high-school I received more volunteer & citizenship awards. All those efforts built a strong resume with great letters of recommendation that recently helped me get into the
university of my choice and their pre-med program. Volunteerism has brought great joy to my life. I plan on staying involved in Rotary no matter where I am living and one day I will join a club.