In June, the Rotary Club of East Cobb presented Susan Jenkins with the David Butts Award. The David Butts' Award is named for East Cobb Rotarian, Dr. David Butts, and honors an individual in the community at large who has demonstrated courage and perseverance in the face of a personal challenge. Nominations are voted on by club membership and the award includes a $1,000 donation to the charity of the recipient's choice.

Dr. Butts joined the Rotary Club of East Cobb in its first year, and has since been a dedicated, passionate and enthusiastic Rotarian - has mentoring, encouraging, and inspiring generations of East Cobb citizens, through his work with Rotary, and as an educator, father, husband, friend, citizen, and servant to all who have had the pleasure to know him. Recently, David has faced a daunting personal challenge in the form of an aggressive cancer. True to his nature, David not only met the challenge with tenacity, but did so without losing his buoyant, faith-driven optimism. David's journey has been physically, mentally, and emotionally grueling. There have been setbacks to match many of the steps forward. More than once, the news was very bleak. However, David never seemed to waiver from his love of life and the joy he found in being around his friends and family in Rotary.The fact that David maintained perfect Rotary attendance (sometimes even doing make-up meetings at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston) is just one example of his undaunted spirit.

Much like David, Susan has dedicated her life to educating children. In the midst of raising her own young son and daughter, Susan was diagnosed with cancer following and given only a 25% chance of survival. However, Susan is a fighter. During long, grueling periods of chemo and radiation therapy, she maintained a positive attitude and was often fond of saying,"I'm not going to die, God isn't done with me yet!" With tenancy, courage, perseverance, and strong faith, Susan beat cancer. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of Susan's battle, as she dealt with other health issues that resulted from her cancer treatment. That said, Susan has overcome those obstacles and returned to full time teaching. She strives to create a fun, challenging and encouraging environment for her students, and enjoys working with special needs students and leading the drama club. Susan continues to tutor and mentor former students, regularly travels on domestic and international mission trips with her church, and shares with everyone she encounters her faith, her never-give up attitude, and her uplifting spirit.

For these reasons, and so many more, the Rotary Club of East Cobb was honored to present Susan Jenkins with this years David Butt's Award.