This was a walking-the-walk sort of week. I joined this whole Rotary thing because it would mean endless opportunities to volunteer and do good. Friday, we volunteered at the Unity in the Community event. Today we held our annual peach sales fundraiser, and I was one of a gaggle of folks standing out in the sun, loading pre-ordered cases of peaches into cars, non-stop, as fast as we could process buyers, for almost two hours. (Actually, I was there just over two hours, but things really slowed down after 6:30.) All these people need to do is hint they need warm bodies, and I find myself jumping in with both feet. Unfortunately, this means I get in over my head really easily, because it is so hard to say no to these people.
I've been thinking about Rotary's over-arching stated goal a lot lately. Years ago, as an international organization, Rotary determined we had the power to eradicate polio forever. We have been working toward this goal with laser focus, and we had gotten incredibly close. There were just a few cases of wild polio still popping up in a couple countries. (Pakistan and Nigeria, maybe? I should really remember that.) Now, as of this summer, we are hearing about vaccine-derived polio turning up in wastewater in New York, and a few diagnosed cases. It's frustrating to feel like we have taken a step backwards. I know Rotarians all around the world will double down and work even harder to vaccinate this virus out of existence, but it sure would have been nice not to experience this setback.
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