COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Robert Donno is one of the founders and Chair Emeritus of Gift of Life International, Inc., which provides free heart surgery for children around the world. He is also a member of Rotary International, which founded Gift of Life, and District Governor of Rotary District 7250.
PERSONAL: Donno and Barbara, his wife of 41 years, have two children: Jackie, 30, and Matt, 26. Barbara is mayor of the Village of Plandome Manor, Long Island.
JOB: Donno worked in the solid waste business for 40 years.
PROUDEST MOMENT: Donno’s first organized operation was on a five-year-old girl from Uganda who now works for the Gift of Life. After her operation she educated herself in agriculture and taught the other people of her village. Donno visited the village. “I saw that I saved not just one life, but hundreds,” he said. “Each child is a drop of kindness. One common denominator between all people is our children.”
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “Getting the message out and getting people to join and understand that they can make a difference,” Donno said. “People are basically good, if you give them the chance to be good.”
FAVORITE MEMORY: Rotary International organized a 1,000 mile run from its steps in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to the Ronald McDonald House in New Hyde Park, New York. The race began on September 11, 2001. Before the race, a 12-year-old Chinese girl and former patient, Zhen Zhen, said she would go back to China and help build relations between her country and America. Donno says her speech about peace with “the backdrop of the events” in New York is one of the strongest memories he has.
INSPIRATION: Donno said he looks at his own kids and asks himself, “What would you want people to do if your child was in trouble?” – Timothy N. Lyman
