Jennifer was introduced by Becky Mason, who ran through her list of positions and accomplishments and summarized by saying that Jennifer was basically a “Rotary Rock Star”.

 

Jennifer began her talk by commenting that it was not only International Women’s Day but also Breast Cancer Prevention Week.  She pointed out that she was a breast cancer survivor and was 10 years cancer-free.  She encouraged all women to please get regular mammograms and checkups for early detection.  Jennifer spoke about women in Rotary.  She reminded the audience that women were not allowed in Rotary until 1987, and that there are still clubs which have no women members.  She told a story about how she visited one of those clubs in Canada and spoke to the group.  She related how “Mr. Creager” a long-time member in his late 80’s, spoke up after her presentation and said he was one of the leaders of the push to keep women out of Rotary in the 80’s, but how he now wanted to fully support them allowing women in.  And he wanted a hug (you had to be there for that one).

 

Jennifer then reflected on some of the past roles she had held with Rotary and how not only had she enjoyed serving in each of the positions, but she felt that she had gotten as much out of each as she had put in to it.  She stated that that is the thing about Rotary – it enables you to experience personal growth as you give of yourself.

 

Jennifer told how she had attended the taping of the Minerva Award presentation on the Oprah Winfrey Show at which Gloria Steinem was honored.  She said she was blown away when Gloria said about the feminist movement, “We got it all wrong. Only when the pendulum swings to the center of women and men as nurturing beings will we truly be equal.”  Jennifer pointed out that women comprise 22% of Rotary internationally and 33% of Rotary in North America.  She stated that we need to have more women in Rotary not to increase a percentage, but because we are missing out on many people with the ability to enrich our organization.

 

Jennifer then related two stories about how our Rotary donations are changing lives.  First, she spoke of when she traveled to Venezuela with a Rotoplast team of doctors and volunteers who performed surgeries on cleft lips.  A family had traveled 14 hours by bus and car and on foot through many dangers to access the clinic and get help for their daughter.  A child with a cleft lip in rural Venezuelan society is ostracized as being “marked by the devil”.  The doctors had been overwhelmed with patients and could not schedule the child.  As Jennifer was trying to deal with the prospect of having to turn the family away and the consequences for the child, a spot opened up and a surgeon was able to fit the young girl in.  After the successful surgery, the grateful mother told Jennifer, “I have always thought my daughter was beautiful, now the rest of the world will think so”.  The second story occurred on a trip to Jordan where she was representing Rotary International as a guest of the Gift of Life organization, a Rotary-sponsored group.  She was able to watch a surgeon perform open-heart surgery on a young girl to close a hole in her heart.  She watched from beside the operating table as the surgeon would periodically jiggle the small heart as he worked.  When finished installing the patch, he had the surgical team warm the body back up and restart the heart.  It was then Jennifer realized the heart had been stopped during the procedure and they were actually bringing the child back to life.  The child will still have a hard life, but will have a life.  Jennifer related these stories to illustrate ways in which Rotary donations affect people around the world.  She wanted to show how our local efforts help to make a difference in so many lives by sharing how one young girl’s life was saved and another’s was changed forever.

 

Jennifer related these stories to show that as Rotarians, we make lasting change in our world, in our communities, and in ourselves.  Rotarians are united and can accomplish so much with each other.