Why am I a Rotarian?

My first true Rotary experience came when I was a junior at Spring Valley High School.  A man kept coming to my wrestling practices and he kept working with me.  I didn’t understand why and it took me many years to realize the sacrifice he made to help me become a good wrestler.

Years later after having been in the Army and deciding to move back home to Columbia to raise my family, I ran into that man again, Tom Bates.  He was still involved with wrestling, basically running the state freestyle program, but Rotary was also the sponsor of a very big wrestling tournament.  Through my involvement with wrestling I continued to run into Rotarians.  It became obvious to me that I needed to give back to the community and the best way to do that was to become a Rotarian.

I have been involved in many different projects and programs within Rotary including:  Table Talkers, Meals on Wheels, Homeworks, the bicycle rodeo, and most recently Gift of Life.  The experience and satisfaction I get from giving and helping as a Rotarian is far better than I could ever imagine.  The true giving spirit of all the Spring Valley Rotarians was most evident to me in our recent Gift of Life project.  The support we gave the Palacios family from David, Panama was truly humbling to me. 

- Brian Dunphy  1/18/10

Brian joined the Spring Valley Rotary club in 1996 and currently serves as the Gift of Life project coordinator. He is a First Vice President/Financial Advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors.