The Power of One
Posted by Sherrie Wight
The power of Rotary comes from our numbers. We are strong because we join together to get things done and make things happen. But the things we get done and make happen are very often the vision of a single person who believes it is viable and convinces the rest of us of its value.
Several years ago Dave and I made the acquaintance of a nice young lady named Amanda. She had been dating a Rotary friend of ours who lived near Camp Pendleton in San Diego and we met when we attended their big fundraiser that year. She was charming, engaging, and intelligent. She told us about her desire to start a Rotary club for military personnel because they had such a hard time being in Rotary with their deployments and frequent transfers. It sounded like a good idea.
That was the last time we had contact with Amanda…..until I spotted a headline in the RSS feed on our Old Town Rotary Club website. If you haven’t noticed it, it’s that strange looking column of words running down the right hand side on our club home page. RSS (really simple syndication) offers an easy way to get Rotary.org content updates by automatically supplying the latest headlines, news, and information formatted especially for our club’s website.
The headline said something about former Navy code breaker starting the first Facebook based Rotary Club. I felt a little perturbed at first. That was Amanda’s idea and someone had stolen it. Then I remembered she had been in the Navy. I quickly clicked on the headline and her face burst onto my screen. She did it! The story went on to tell how she battled through a life threatening illness which destroyed her well laid plans for a promising future, causing her to reevaluate her life. She turned to the humanitarian service of Rotary to give her purpose. That was the Amanda we met: the one that had been reevaluating….and she did it!
The power of Rotary comes from our numbers but it is the vision of individuals that gives us direction and purpose. We have all seen that first hand starting with the dream of one amazing young woman named Sarah. Share your visions and passions with each other. You never know when your idea might be the catalyst that sparks an evolution of our ability to provide Service Above Self.
To read all of the inspiring story about Amanda and the United Services Rotary Club click on the picture below.
