During my recent vacation to Myrtle Beach I began to read a book that my son-in-law just finished. Little did he know that I had been eyeing the book on his fireplace mantel over the last six months.  I even pulled it down one day while babysitting the angels and read a chapter.  It did intrigue me.  As soon as he finished the book at the beach, I laid claim to it.
The Book is “Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari. The basic premise of the book is covered on the book’s back cover.  During humankind’s history “Fire gave us power, Farming made us hungry for more, Money gave us purpose, and Science made us deadly.”  Humankind became rulers of the world through genetic luck, ruthlessness, and because of our special social abilities that enabled us to band together in larger groups with a common purpose.
The author is not impressed with humankind’s accomplishments to date.  He writes, “Unfortunately the Sapiens regime on earth has so far produced little that we can be proud of.  We mastered our surroundings, increased food production, built cities, established empires and created far-flung trade networks. But did we decrease the amount of suffering in the world?”
As a member of humankind who happens to be a Rotarian, my answer would be that we Rotarians are trying. Rotary International’s worldwide water projects, polio eradication project, and other health initiatives are making every effort to reduce the amount of suffering in the world.  Here in Steubenville our club continues to support a number of projects that support education, women’s health, and other worthwhile projects that come to our attention. 
There are many other organizations worldwide making efforts as well.  The problem is that suffering worldwide is immense and the overall effort to help is not near enough.  The same holds true in our own community. Poverty, addiction, and mental health issues are devastating our community.
As Rotarians we need to try to do more. The Rotarian Code of Conduct states, “use my professional skills through Rotary to: mentor young people, help those with special needs, and improve people’s quality of life in my community and in the world.”
I believe our club wants to do more and wants to improve people’s quality of life in our community and in the world.  Moving forward with an additional fundraiser is a great way to start and will enable us to help more.  I am excited about some of the suggested fundraisers made at the Club meeting in July.  I am hopeful that we will come up with a great fundraiser and have fun doing it as well. 
Remember, it will take a large group of Sapiens working together to make it happen!