District 6900 – Answering the Call to Honor and Serve
In response to District Governor Steve Ivory’s challenge for every club in District 6900 to identify and honor local heroes, the Rotary Club of Roswell launched a monthly Hero of the Month initiative. This initiative was designed not only to recognize outstanding service, but to inspire meaningful action rooted in Rotary’s core values of Service Above Self, compassion, and community impact.
Through this program, Roswell Rotary has honored police officers, firefighters, teachers, and veterans—individuals whose daily sacrifices often go unrecognized. In November, the Club honored veteran Chris Cathers, whose service continued long after his military career ended. Chris is the founder of Brother’s Keeper, a highly regarded nonprofit dedicated to preventing veteran suicide and supporting veterans during some of their most critical moments. The organization provides assistance with wheelchair repairs, extended rehabilitation care, substance-abuse recovery, service dogs, and other essential support services.
During his address to the Club, Chris shared sobering statistics and firsthand accounts highlighting the urgent realities facing many veterans after returning home. His message was deeply personal and immediate, and it resonated powerfully with the membership. Following his presentation, a Roswell Rotarian approached Club leadership with a simple but compelling challenge: “We have to do something—right here, right now—for veterans in our own backyard.”
On December 11, Club President Trummie Patrick introduced what would become one of Roswell Rotary’s most impactful service projects of the year. He explained how the initiative grew organically from honoring Chris Cathers and how Chris had provided the Club with a list of nine local veterans, each facing urgent and tangible needs.
Those needs ranged from approximately $2,200 to repair a wheelchair for a double amputee, to $6,000 or more to provide trained service dogs, to intermediate funding levels that would allow veterans to remain in alcohol rehabilitation programs for several additional months—often the critical difference between recovery and relapse.
President Patrick outlined a focused and transparent goal: all funds raised during the meeting would go directly toward assisting the four veterans initially identified, with the hope that additional funds would allow the Club to help more. A video message from Chris Cathers reinforced the urgency of the need and the integrity of the mission, putting faces and stories behind the numbers.
What followed exemplified Roswell Rotary at its very best.
The Club’s Veterans Chair, William Brown, addressed the membership with a deeply personal and moving account. He shared his father’s experience returning from Vietnam—uncelebrated and unsupported—and his subsequent struggles with depression, alcohol abuse, and a suicide attempt. William explained how the intervention of a local Rotary Club and a supportive church community helped his family avoid devastation.
Because of that generosity, William’s story became one of resilience and impact. He went on to play football at Vanderbilt University, earn his law degree, serve his country through two deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and today is a successful attorney and Rotarian—living proof that one act of service can change the trajectory of generations.
Moments later, Roswell Rotarian John Michael Brunetti issued a challenge of his own, pledging to personally match up to $10,000 of the Club’s contributions in support of the veterans identified.
President Patrick then invited members to review the pledge cards on their tables and give as they felt led. While the Club listened to remarks from Chancellor and former Governor Sonny Perdue, that day’s speaker, generosity flowed quietly but powerfully throughout the room.
By the end of the meeting, Roswell Rotary announced that it had raised just under $40,000.
This extraordinary response not only fully funded support for the four initially identified veterans—it enabled the Club to assist every veteran on Chris Cathers’ list, ensuring that critical needs were met and lives were meaningfully impacted.
Roswell Rotary is proud to submit this initiative as its Hero Service Project for District 6900, confident that it reflects the very best of Rotary’s ideals and the enduring power of Service Above Self.