I’ve been an MDRT member for about 18 years now, but I really didn’t know much about the Foundation until one day I, as a volunteer, was asked to be the speaker liaison for the Foundation President. Just being around her for those two days, I realized the power the Foundation had. I think that year the charity was called Sole 4 Souls, where they were giving shoes out. It was amazing that MDRT could reach out to anywhere in the world. That’s when I realized that sometimes you want to do so much for humanity, but as a single person, you really can’t do much at all to impact lives.
But I realized that as one of the volunteer chairs, I could ask for a grant of $1,000 and choose any charity that I was passionate about. I came across this organization that made toilets for people in India. I said, “Toilets, really? Are they even homes that don’t have toilets?” And they identified a village where there were no toilets in homes. The women could not defecate in the open. So they would have to get up early in the morning in the dark and walk five miles just to do that because they didn’t have a toilet at home. And just a little amount, as little as $100, could build one toilet. We were able to give 80 toilets in 80 homes, and the women were crying because they could now just go to a washroom in their homes.
So it was so touching that, just as a Zone Chair, I could request MDRT to give that grant, and they simply gave it. So I think the Foundation is doing a phenomenal job in touching lives. Now it’s up to us to identify these kinds of requirements or needs of people, of human beings, and just reach out to the Foundation. They’re there to give their support and change lives to such an extent. The Foundation is a great place to be involved with, and I feel that even if, from our side, it’s a drop in the ocean, it kind of changes you forever when you see the impact.
Help make a difference by endorsing a charity to receive funding through the grants program. The deadline is September 1. Learn more.
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Priti,
I remember discussing these chair grants as a board trustee for the MDRTF, it is so rewarding to hear of your use of these grants and the impact it has had, not only on those that receive the benefit but also on you, your business and your view of our organizations.
Past MDRT Foundation President, Allan Bruce said “MDRT is what we do, the MDRT Foundation is who we are!”
See you soon!
Richard Dobson