“While earning your daily bread, be sure you share a slice with those less fortunate.” ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” ~Mother Teresa
Today, I will be breaking bread with my fellow Rotarians. I recently decided to join Rotary International, the world’s largest service organization with 1.2 million members. In more than 34,000 clubs worldwide, members volunteer in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, and eradicate polio.
I wanted to find a way to give back because as Mohammed Ali once said: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Many people think of Rotary as a networking group, and that can be a side benefit, but as it was explained to me: “You don’t come to Rotary to get something out of it. You come to Rotary to put something into it. And, once you have put something into it you will get something out of it, but it won’t be what you expect – it will be better!”
Today, I get to officially introduce myself during the “Member Minute”. I’m looking forward to sharing a little about the pride I have for our industry. Most people do not realize that “if they bought it, a truck brought it”:
•Over 80% of all communities in the US rely exclusively on trucks to deliver all of their fuel, clothing, medicine, and other consumer goods.
•The trucking industry employs 10 million people (out of a total national population of 300 million) in jobs that relate directly to trucking.
•The trucking industry is the industry of small business, considering 93% of interstate motor carriers (over 500,000) operate 20 or fewer trucks.
I think sometimes we forget what a difference our jobs make to our country and how significant our work really is. But this quote about service (my favorite by far!) sums it up nicely:
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito!” ~Betty Reese
Enjoy your weekend.
~Bob
