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"What Does a Rotary Club Do?"
Someone asked that question once,
and I stood there feeling like a dunce!
What do our Rotarians do?
I hummed and hawed a time or two,
Then said, "We gather for a meal
and ask each other how we feel,
Get our food and have some fun,
chattering till the meal is done.
We get club business out of the way
and have the program of the day
Some are good...and some are great!
And ... some run on 'til fairly late"
But then my friend, he turned to go.
"That wasn't" he said, "What I want to know."
I've thought a lot about this since...
What could I possibly say to convince
My friend that Rotary does more than meet
...greet...take a seat... then eat?
Well, this is how I would make amends,
by explaining Rotary to my friends
Two billion children are healthy today,
in lands both near and far away
Who otherwise might be lame...or dead,
from polio...that childhood dread!
And hungry children are being fed,
through better ways to grow their bread
Rotarians in many lands are teaching,
and doctors of all kinds are reaching-
out to heal the sick and lame,
with little thought for wealth or fame
And men and women are meeting the need,
to teach little children how to read
Youth come here from every land,
in answer to our outstretched hand
To learn to know us and know our ways,
bringing peace and friendship to all our days
And clubs are formed in every nation,
for fellowship and conversation
For education and information,
and practicing the cultivation-
of peace on earth, and goodwill to all,
and a speedy end to every wall-
which separates the folk of earth
and keeps us from seeing each other's worth
A hundred things there are to say
about what Rotarians do each day
In every land and every town,
to lift someone when they are down
And help each other along the way
- Service Above Self - what more can I say?
Well, if my friend should ask again,
I'll have another answer for him then!
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