Mary Stitt

Retirement is seen by some people as being a time to kick back in the recliner, turn on the TV, and just relax and enjoy being free to do whatever you please or nothing at all. When Mary Stitt retired from her position as principal of Olive-Mary Stitt School in Arlington Heights in 1992, she jumped into retirement with both feet and hasn't stopped running since. As an example of how much she was loved and respected at her school, when she left her staff asked the school board to rename the school in her honor and the school board agreed to their request. Stitt's father had been an active Rotarian for many years, and just before she retired she became a member of the Arlington Heights Sunrise Rotary Club. She has held various offices with the club and has also been active at the district level. In about 1993 her club, and also the club that meets at noon, began working with the village of Arlington Heights to provide nurses to help out at the immunization clinic that is currently held on the third Monday of the month at the new City Hall.

“Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, to get acquainted with fellow Rotarians, and to experience different cultures,” Stitt said. “Also, I hope I am making a difference in the world, and I am trying to be a good example for other people.”

In 1985 Rotary International instigated a program to help provide immunization to children living in poor countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria that were still experiencing problems with polio. Since that time Rotary members from all over the world have donated their time and money to help immunize more than two billion children in 122 countries. In 2004, Stitt made the first of her five trips abroad as a Rotary volunteer, and she has served in various parts of India, in Niger, and in Nigeria. During her latest trip in 2008 there were 16 people in her group, but she has also worked with a group of Nigerian mothers who worked in heavily Muslim facilities where men are not permitted. Children between zero and five years of age are administered two drops of the vaccine orally from a small vial, and it is necessary for each child to receive five or six doses. Because the polio vaccine is not injected, lay volunteers can administer it, but medical personnel are also on hand to administer shots for measles, and other childhood diseases, as well as vitamin A to promote good vision and general health.

Rhonda Serafin, president of the Arlington Heights Sunrise Rotary Club, said, “Mary is an incredible, amazing, and unique person who has more energy that most people who are half her age. Her purpose in life is to help others, especially the sick and starving children in poverty-stricken, third world countries.”

Stitt resides in Arlington Heights, and when she is not volunteering overseas, she volunteers with local organizations including a PADS homeless shelter, as a board member at First United Methodist Church, Arlington Heights, and the Arlington Heights Senior Center Inc. She is also an active member of the Arlington Heights Women's Club, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Stitt has also volunteered on numerous mission trips for her church to Cambodia, Haiti, Costa Rico, Chili, Panama, Moscow, Alaska, and in January 2008, one of her granddaughters accompanied her on a medical mission trip to Haiti. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, her computer, and most important, spending time with her family that includes three daughters, two sons, eleven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

People of all ages are urgently needed for the hundreds of volunteer opportunities that are available locally. Call The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago (all ages including teens, groups and corporations) at 847-228-1320; or the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (mature adults 55 or years or better) at 847-228-1006. Additional information is also available by checking their website: www.volunteerinfo.net.

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