Volunteer hopes to set good example by helping others

Retirement is seen by some people as being a time to kick back in the recliner, turn on the TV, 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 board agreed.

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 at the immunization clinic that is offered 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 immunizations 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. She has served in various parts of India, Niger and Nigeria.

During her latest trip in 2008, there were 16 people in her group. She worked with a group of Nigerian mothers, who worked in heavily Muslim facilities where men are not permitted.

Children up to 5 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 than 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."

When Stitt is not volunteering overseas, she volunteers with local organizations, including a PADS homeless shelter, as a board member at First United Methodist Church in 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 and Alaska. 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, which includes three daughters, two sons, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.