. David Cleek

February 16, 2010

The rain was heavy. David Cleek had missed the turn to the home of a Make-a-Wish client. He was taking directions by cell phone from the mother of the family.

"Is the name on the mail box?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied." She was relaying information from her husband.

"Let me talk to your husband," said Cleek. She replied that that was not possible.

It all became clear when Cleek finally reached the home of the Make-a-Wish child who walked in braces because of a debilitating brain cyst. The mother was blind. The father was deaf. "He's my eyes; I'm his ears," the mother explained. "And for the love we share, we are truly blessed."

"For all the fine homes you can see from the interstate," David Cleek told Putnam Rotarians today, "there are four times as many others which are substandard. People can't pay their utility bills; plumbing is inadequate or non-existent."

The heart of Rotary is community service, and the heart of service is personal involvement and personal commitment. "And when we roll up or sleeves and become personally involved, we become truly blessed.

"The opportunities are there" said Cleek. Adult literacy, Scouting, "Make-a-Wish," the Charleston "Manna Meals."

The Manna Meals program feeds breakfast and lunch to 200 to 250 people every day.

Cleek, a retired attorney, also cited the Sheriff's Department "Christmas-for-Kids" program and the "Diaper Pantry."

"We can do these things together," he said. "The opportunities are there," he repeated. "The needs are now."