WHITE GLOVE TREATMENT

Every year for the past several, when I have been fortunate enough to gather teams of dedicated Rotarians to travel to India with me, for participation in National Immunization Days (NIDs) against polio, as well as work projects, I have been fortunate to have the support of my family, friends, fellow Rotarians and local businesses. This year is no exception.
Because our work projects have generally entailed construction, in one way or another, there has been a need for my team members to have work gloves for protection. The first two years, 2005 and 2006, my teams traveled to south India for tsunami relief projects. The first year, we helped fund and construct a building at an orphanage for children who had lost one or both parents to the tsnuamis of December 26, 2004. The following year, we worked on construction of one hundred homes for the victims of the tsunamis.
Then, as now, my friend, Bruce Lamb, one of the owners of Springvale Hardware in Springvale, Maine, volunteered to provide me with whatever number of work gloves we needed. The choices were from about four or five different types of gloves, but each year, we settled on the WHITE GLOVES WITH THE BLUE RUBBER PALMS. These were cloth gloves, and a bright blue rubberized covering on the palms and fingers of each glove. Our hands were able to breathe and yet avoid being bruised or cut by the sand, rocks and bricks we would be carrying. A few weeks ago, I spoke with Bruce, and he agreed to provide me with some fifty pairs of WHITE GLOVES for my team.
Now that my suitcases are nearly packed, I will be able to cram in the gloves to take for the rest of the members of our ROTARY DREAM TEAM - INDIA 2010. Thanks for Bruce and Springvale Hardware, we will have protection for our hands!