Why I Am A Rotarian
APRIL 25, 2006
I am an only child. When my mother was in her early twenties,
she suffered a motorcycle injury while with her boy friend (my
father). The doctors told her she would never be able to have
children. About 3 years later, she and my father had one
child: me. They never had another child even though they never
did anything to prevent having more children.
I have a romantic
streak in me and this story always had special significance. I
felt that I had to be born. There was a meaning, not an
accident. [Perhaps I was too self-important]
In 1997-1998, I
became the governor for Rotary District 5010. Circumstances and
events impelled me to promote “The Children of Russia Project.”
By the end of my governor year, 132 Rotary clubs in 19 districts
in 5 nations AND the Rotary Foundation had raised over $600,000
to improve the conditions of children in 22 communities in
eastern Russia.
The romantic streak
in me concluded that I had somehow completed the circle in life
and repaid the fates that had decried that I would beat the
medical odds and become me. Rotary made it possible for me to
close the circle. And that is why I am a Rotarian.
Carolyn E. Jones
TRF Trustee,
2005-09
Rotary Club of
Anchorage East, Alaska
District 5010
USA
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