The following are excerpts of Rotary District Governor Diana White’s presentation:
"I would like to thank you personally for the unbelievable support given to Haiti by the Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors of Sint Maarten in the aftermath of the earthquake. Your immediate response to the needs of the Haiti community was incredible and did not go unnoticed by either the Haiti Rotarians or by your District".
"For almost 40 years, the Clubs in Sint Maarten have contributed to The Rotary Foundation. Your donations have made it possible for us to give greater assistance to communities throughout the District through the Rotary Foundation SHARE system. Many have received an education, learned to read, have clean water and live with more dignity because of your personal contributions. You can be justly proud of your record of Foundation giving and on behalf of those whom you have benefitted, I thank you. Your Club has pledged $4,000 this year for the Annual Program Fund and another $2,000 for Polio Plus. I thank you for your continued support".
"Each year, our district contributes approximately a quarter of a million dollars to The Rotary Foundation and each year receives somewhere in the region of 3 million back through the grants process. This year, several Sint Maarten young professionals will benefit from the Foundation-funded Group Study Exchange program when they, and their team leader, Rotarian Rebecca Low embark on a vocational exchange to the UK; an experience that will broaden their perspectives and in which they will gain fresh ideas to bring with them on their return. The Rotaians of Sint Maarten have played host to many of these team in the past few years – as a result I felt it was your turn to enjoy the benefits of this great program offered by The Rotary Foundation".
" What is it that makes Rotary unique? It is certainly not the fact that we have a network of clubs around the globe, nor is it because we undertake service projects to help those in need. It is not the fact that our members are leaders in their business or community. What makes us unique is our holding fast to high ethical values in an age when these values are challenged and sometimes considered outdated. So our unique selling point is that we select the very best from our communities. We also consider our diversity, we build no barriers based on religion, politics, ethnicity, gender or age and we strive to include all vocations within our geographic boundaries. This is who and what we are."
"Right here in your club, Theo and Meike were concerned for the safety of cyclists, they researched in Holland and learned about safety arm bands. They returned to Sint Maarten and motivated you to help them achieve their goal of providing armbands.
Fred Fleming inspired you to join him in bringing joy to senior citizens and your annual Seniors Cruise became a reality. All these Rotarians used their Power of One to realize their goals and dreams.
As we have observed here in Sint Maarten, there are many examples of Rotarians who have inspired their members to dream with them and to take action where it is needed. I am sure there are many in this room whom you could cite as examples".
"In the late 1970’s two Rotarian doctors in the Philippines applied for a matching grant to organize an immunization event in their community. This Power of One idea eventually in 1985 became the Polio Plus campaign, which, over the past 25 years has saved more than 2 billion children from becoming victims of the disease".