Take 26-year-old Cris Wallace of Lake Elsinore, Calif., who is walking 2,658 miles from Campo, Calif., on the U.S.-Mexico border, to Manning Provincial Park, British Columbia, to raise money and awareness to end polio worldwide. She hopes to raise $1 million to wipe out polio in the four nations where it persists: Nigeria, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

Wallace said members of her hometown Rotary Club range in age from 24-70. "It's very addictive. You want to make a difference. You want to bring about change," Wallace said. Those are not just words. She's walking the walk. She has a personal connection to the cause. In February, Wallace immunized children against polio in Nigeria.

As in my grandfather's time, the organization remains committed to eradication of disease and hunger, promoting literacy; providing safe water and advancing world peace. It also encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, something we could use a lot more of these days.

The 17,000 Rotarians visiting Salt Lake this week represent a total membership of some 1.2 million men and women from 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries. Their respective communities should be very proud of the service they render. Perhaps more so, they should be inspired by men and women who, in so many cultures that prize material wealth and self-indulgence, somehow manage to keep their priorities straight.

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Marjorie Cortez, who thinks Rotary International's 4-Way Test is a vast improvement on the Golden Rule, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. Her e-mail is marjorie@desnews.com.