[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 590

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

1195: Russian state honors Trustee Jones for humanitarian efforts 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:35 am (PST) 
Russian state honors Trustee Jones for humanitarian efforts 

By Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga
Rotary International News

Two state legislatures, one in Russia and the other in the United 
States, have independently of each other honored Rotary Foundation 
Trustee Carolyn Jones for her work as a Rotary Volunteer. 

In Russia, the president of the Duma of the Tomsk Oblast presented 
Jones on 28 June with the Mercy and Charity Award in recognition of 
her leadership in helping improve the lives of thousands of children 
in the state. 

On 22 July, Jones received the Alaska Legislature's Honorarium 
Certificate for her accomplishments and service within Alaska and for 
her appointment as the first female trustee of The Rotary Foundation. 
Jones is from Anchorage. 

The award from the Tomsk Oblast recognizes individuals who have 
participated in outstanding humanitarian initiatives in the state. Of 
the 16 recipients to date, only two are non-Russian, and both are 
Rotarians. Kimberley Day, of the Rotary Club of Eureka, California, 
USA, is a past recipient. 

"This is a great honor for me today to stand before you as a 
recipient of the Mercy and Charity Award," Jones said in her 
acceptance speech. "It is always a surprise to return here and to see 
how much the children have grown up. I have known and loved some of 
these children for eight years. They have grown from little toddlers 
to teenagers." 

Jones told attendees that she discovered a special purpose to her 
life when she visited the children's cancer ward of the Siberian 
State Medical Hospital during a 1997 trip to Tomsk. 

Eastern Russia is part of Rotary International District 5010, and 
Jones was in the country as a member of a team of Rotary leaders from 
the Alaskan portion of the district. 

"The children had various forms of leukemia and cancers of the 
blood," she explained. "They needed chemotherapy medicine in order to 
live, but the hospital lacked the money to buy the medicine." 

Moved by what she saw, Jones helped rally international Rotary club 
support for the Children of Russia Program, initiated by the Rotary 
Club of Tomsk to improve the lives of children, including the 
hospitalized ones. 

"In one year, Rotarians from around the world raised over US$600,000 -
about 17 million rubles - to benefit needy children," Jones said. 

The money, which included Rotary Foundation Matching Grant funds, 
supported 30 educational, health, and humanitarian relief efforts. 
Jones oversaw the successful implementation of all 30 projects 
through the most difficult stretch of Russia's economic meltdown in 
the 1990s. She participated hands-on during her regular site visits. 

Jones led four other Anchorage-area Rotarians during the most recent 
trip to Tomsk. The group volunteered at an orphanage and delivered 
five laptop computers for the children. 

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

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