The national president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Monday encouraged Cape Girardeau Jaycees to continue their work with victims of the severe flooding in the area.

"I heard about the tremendous things this chapter is doing for disaster relief in the area," Matt Shapiro said at a meeting of the organization. "You have made an impact with your efforts, and I came to congratulate you, and to encourage you to do more."

Shapiro, a 12-year member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, has held office in the organization on the local, state and national levels.

Shapiro commented on the Cape Girardeau Jaycees' work with the KFVS12 flood relief telethon this past weekend, and their continuing efforts with other charitable organizations, including a recent $500 donation to the American Red Cross.

"The fundamental purpose of the Junior Chamber of Commerce is to work on a local level, bringing people together by providing personal and professional development," Shapiro said. "You are accomplishing that goal with your community and should be very proud of that."

Shapiro then related an anecdote about a man named George who had been in high school for seven years because he didn't see things the way the other students usually did.

"George would have made a great Jaycee because he looked at standard, simple situations in new and innovative ways," Shapiro said.

"There is not always a right and a wrong solution to a problem; things are not always black and white," Shapiro continued.

"People like George find ways to make things better by using the resources available to them by finding a different way to do things.

"That is what I challenge you to do for your community in its time of need," Shapiro said.

Shapiro majored in accounting and finance at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He left a 10-year career in finance to run Impact Promotions, a specialty advertising business owned by he and his wife Lisa, in Phoenixville, Penn.

Shapiro will live in Tulsa, Olka., this year at the Junior Chamber National Service Center. He said he will travel about 200 days throughout the year, visiting local Jaycees chapters, leading major projects and training seminars and talking to major corporations across the country.

"This is one of my favorite things to do visiting local chapters during their meetings," Shapiro said. "It gives me a chance to find out what they're doing and to share it with other chapters halfway across the country."