CLAREMORE — Claremore Rotary Club members hosted the heads of two local agencies — Rogers County Youth Services and Tri-County CASA — both of whom lauded Rogers County United Way.
Herb McSpadden and Angela Henderson, directors of the respective agencies, took turns addressing Rotarians, with McSpadden beginning by giving an abject lesson on assigning value to people.
“We all know how much a penny is worth, it’s worth a penny, and how much a dime and a quarter and a dollar are worth,” McSpadden began.
“But how much is a Wal-Mart gift card worth? It’s worth whatever you put into it, and that’s how people are — they’re worth whatever you put into them.
“It’s easy to tell the value of money, you look at it and you know what it’s worth, but how do we find the value in people?” he asked. “How do we assign value to people — through athleticism, intellect, beauty, charisma?
“Those things are easy to find — success is important, too, and many of us are successful because we’ve had someone in our lives, a coach, a parent, a teacher, who believed in us, who encouraged us.
“More than likely, most people have had someone like that — an encourager — but what happens when the opposite happens?” he said. “When people have people in their lives who tell them they can’t amount to anything, that they’ll never succeed? It becomes much, much harder.
“You know, you can take a dollar bill, wrinkle it up, throw it on the ground, and step on it, but it’s still got value — people are like that,” he said. “You can throw them on the ground and discourage them, but that doesn’t mean they have any less value, and at Rogers County Youth Services, we work with kids who don’t know their value.
“Our goal is to help those people — those peolpe who’ve been crumpled up and thrown down — to find their value,” he said.
“Our work and the work of so many other agencies is made possibly largely from the help of the Rogers County United Way — through them, our agency and so many others are able to make a difference in the lives of families in Claremore and around Rogers County.”
Tri-County CASA Director Angela Henderson concurred with McSpadden’s sentiments, highlighting the importance of the Rogers County United Way and an upcoming fundraiser.
“The Holiday Boutique is the perfect opportunity for people to get their Christmas shopping done early and all for a good cause,” Henderson said.
Other agencies which benefit from the RCUW include American Red Cross, Claremore Meals on Wheels, Claremore Senior Citizens, Community Action Resource & Development, Hospice of Green Country, Inola Senior Citizens Center, The Manger, Rogers County Adult Day Care.
The Fouth Annual Holiday Boutique is today and tomorrow at Rogers State University Centennial Center.
For more information, call (918) 343-1515 or the Rogers County United Way at (918) 343-1165.
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