On January 10, 2003 we met over dinner to express our
appreciation for the efforts of the members of our club throughout the
year. The Social Committee did an
outstanding job planning the meeting and the food was exceptional!
The event gave me the
opportunity to reflect on how much work we really do. The amount of time spent meeting, planning, and executing our
fundraising efforts is amazing. Our
Sponsorship Committee spends countless hours evaluating individual donation
opportunities to distribute funds as effectively as possible. Obtaining quality speakers for our Tuesday
meetings, transporting our equipment and arranging food and drink is no easy
task. Keeping track of our money,
banking, budgeting, distributing checks and filing taxes is a huge effort. Our Secretary is constantly filing reports
and drafting meeting minutes. The work
of each of our Board Committees like Awards, Care and Concern, Sergeant at Arms
requires many hours.
All of this work is in
addition to the work we do in our non-Sertoma lives, at the office, and at home
with families. I asked myself why we do
it and the answer was clear. We do
it because it is fun, we get to
interact with an exceptional group of Sertoma people, and we have the
satisfaction of knowing that our efforts positively impact
so many in our community.
I think of Terrance
Holley, the kid off to college for whom we bought hearing aides. He’s doing great in school. Jett Bay, whose speech is developing because
he can now hear. AISD tells me the speech and hearing equipment we bought is helping
immensely. I wonder how many lives the
defibrillator we bought for the Volunteer Fire Department has saved. So you see, your hard work is paying
off. Each of you who work so hard to
help people in our community deserves our appreciation and thanks. Way to go!
Kim
Haugen
President