I went to the reception hall early on Saturday morning to help put together the goody bags full of some pretty nice donated items, thinking that would be my contribution for the day, yet somehow before I left, the president had talked me into running the live auction that evening. He’s normally the one that runs it, but as president, had a speech to give already. Thank goodness for my years of training in public speaking from my mock trial coaches! 
My dear friend Siobhán Brett accompanied me to the gala, and we had a grand time getting dolled up in advance (particularly when the cab driver rang the bell for us, sending the normally incredibly well-behaved dog I was caring for into hysterics as he tried his best to alert us of this visitor at the gate and we tried our best to keep the dog at bay while wearing stilettos and full-length dresses!), and nearly as much fun upon arrival attempting to explain to people how we knew each other: it makes complete sense that two girls who were born and (at least partially) raised in the US and now live in Dublin would have first met while living in the Netherlands, right?
Despite a lovely wine reception and dinner, I was still a bit nervous to take the podium for the auction during dessert – and not just because I was concerned about the fate of the delectable-looking Bailey’s cheesecake while I was away. Here I was at my first Ball, not even a Rotarian myself, speaking to a crowd of 150, many of whom had been regular attendees for years, trying to fill the shoes of a man with incredible stage presence at his own honorary event! Thankfully John, the emcee and one of the main organizers of the event, stayed up on stage to help me out and all in all I think we did pretty well together – plus the auction items were so great, they nearly sold themselves. And then the dancing began. It was definitely a fun and memorable night, but most importantly, the total amount raised on the night from ticket sales, raffle donations, and the live auction was about 6,000 euros – that’s nearly 20,000 polio vaccines for children worldwide.In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” Just imagine what a worldwide network of one million Rotarians can achieve!
The Rotary Foundation,
in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been a major contributor to the End Polio Now campaign to eradicate polio worldwide, and the vaccination efforts are producing real life-saving results. Just this week the World Health Organization officially removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries, leaving three countries left to tackle: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. But don’t be fooled, just three countries left is great, and worth celebrating, but that last 1% can be the hardest to eradicate as it just takes one case to re-infect a nation. To learn more about Rotary’s efforts and what you can do to help, click here: Polio Plus Campaign.
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