 Why
I Am A Rotarian
By Robert M. (Bob) Lucero
Member,
Denver Cherry Creek Rotary Club
About fifty years ago I
was President of the Latin American Educational Foundation which
provides motivation and assistance for people of Spanish and
Mexican descent to go to college. I was urged by others to run
for the Denver School Board, and I visited some of the schools
in all neighborhoods. One of them, Greenlee Elementary School, a
core city school, with about 85% Hispanic students. One of the
teachers there was on the LAEF board with me and told me,
disgustedly, that they were not buying books “because the
students didn’t know how to read”. I wanted to do something
about it, but lost in the election, so didn’t get to.
A
few years ago, I was on a committee with Dr. Lee Trachtenberg, a
member of Denver Cherry Creek Rotary Club, who invited me to a
meeting. I went with him, and learned that the Club was buying
books dedicating them to our weekly speaker then sending them to
Greenlee School. I immediately applied for membership and was
delighted when I was accepted. I shortly took on the job of
talking with the school librarian to get a list of the books
desired, buying the books, and delivering them to the Club, then
to Greenlee after they had been dedicated.
Our club has
now provided hundreds of books suitable for the children at the
school. I shortly took on other tasks for the Club including
editing the Club Newsletter, and was surprised and delighted
when I was named “Rookie of the Year”, honored again when I
joined the Paul Harris Foundation. With these honors, I have
been even more motivated to work for the benefit of the Club,
and last year was named the Club’s “Rotarian of the Year”. I
frequently include items about Paul Harris, and “Why I Am A
Rotarian” in the Newsletter, always giving credit to RGHF.
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