Past District Governor Ean Sullivan was the District Governor of RI District 5810 in 2013-14. Ean and his wife Jan live in Plano where he is a CPA and also has a lighting business. His wife, The Rev. Jan Sullivan, is a minister. Both are deeply committed to Rotary projects, especially the “End Polio Now” campaign which will be the topic of their presentation.
It is an amazing story that showcases the power of Rotary International, including individual Rotary clubs, the World Health Organization, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation all of which have raised millions of dollars to save the children of the world from the dreaded crippling disease of polio.
This massive project began in the mid eighties and all but four countries are now polio free!
PDG Ean and Jan Sullivan have an interesting background and this is just one of their many stories. PDG Ean didn't come into Rotary the normal way. Ean joined Rotary because his wife told him to!
Ean Sullivan was new in town (Plano) with his new bride Jan, and was trying to start a CPA practice. His wife told him he needed to join Rotary because that is where the people are with whom he needed to associate! His wife grew up in Rotary! She attended Rotary meetings long before women were admitted into Rotary! His future wife Jan was the waitress at the restaurant where a Rotary club met. Her dad owned the restaurant and was a member of the club.
The power of Rotary is when you get committed Rotarians together to solve problems! The Puerto Vallarta Rotary Club said kids in a local school located in a poor part of town needed school supplies. In addition, the building they were in was ugly. The Rotarians bought paint and supplies and spent an entire day giving the kids school supplies and painting the school.
Then a local Rotarian said there was another school he would like for them to see. They drove out of town to a place where the local government had relocated all of the panhandlers, beggars, and the homeless. In the slum there were 200 kids who needed a school. Their school was an old, run down tin barn with dirt floors. There was only one water faucet in the school. The school didn't have a bathroom and the kids had to go out into the woods to relieve themselves.
