Sandlins Attend Rotary Million Dollar Dinner

The Sandlins attended the “by invitation only” Rotary Foundation Million Dollar Dinner presented by Rotary District 6960 with special guest Keynote Speaker Barry Rassin, Rotary International President 2018-19. 

Linda Sandlin is the President Nominee for the Rotary Club of Marco Island Noon-time, serving as President in 2020-21, her 20th anniversary as a Rotarian. Rassin, who has been a Rotarian since 1980, has received Rotary’s highest award, the Service Above Self Award, as well as other humanitarian awards for his work leading Rotary’s relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake there. In his address he announced that The Rotary Foundation is ranked the #3 humanitarian organization in the world. He reported on Rotary’s amazing battle to eradicate polio in the world. Thirty years ago, 350,000 children a year were affected by polio in 125 countries. More than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated and more than $14 billion invested in the fight to eradicate the disease. Today all but three countries in the world are certified polio free and to date this year only two cases of polio have been reported. 

Polio is just one of thousands of Rotary’s humanitarian projects both globally and locally making the world and our local communities a better place to live. Rotary is committed to providing clean water to every country and every person in the world, and our District has adopted that challenge in Haiti.

Rassin wrote, “Imagine if we could take a snapshot capturing all of the work Rotary does on a given day. No one- except Rotarians- would believe that a single organization was capable of accomplishing so much. In that snapshot you would see dedicated volunteers working to eradicate polio, setting up microloans, providing clean water, mentoring youth and countless other actions.” In addition, Rotary boasts 1200 Peace Fellow graduates dedicated to promoting peace in the world through effective communication.

“It is a great privilege to be a part of this amazing organization whose motto is ‘Service Above Self’ where each individual’s small contribution when multiplied by the thousands of Rotarians working together changes the world and serves those in need in our local community,” Linda stated.