Rotary District 9800
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The Rotary Foundation - Is it Relevant Today?
In 1917, Rotary International President, Arch Klumph established what has now become The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
Its purpose was ‘doing good in the world', in charitable, educational or other avenues of service.
The first 10 years saw less that US $10,000 donated by Rotarians. The fund continued to languish up until the death of Paul Harris in 1947. Over the next year Rotarians donated over US $1 million dollars in recognition of the life and work of Paul Harris.
It was in 1947 that the first 18 Rotary Foundation Fellows for Advanced Studies (now known as Ambassadorial Scholars) were sent overseas for study.
The Foundation has only changed slightly over the 90 years of its existence and its mission today is now expressed as ‘to support the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world peace and understanding through international humanitarian, educational and cultural exchange programs’.
Without the Foundation well over 3,000,000 children would either be maimed or dead today as a direct result of polio, but were saved by the Rotary Foundation PolioPlus Program.
Since our global assault against polio began in 1985, over 2 billion children have been vaccinated, Rotarians have committed in excess of US$881 million, 210 countries, territories, and regions around the world are now polio-free.
Rotarians have been mobilised by the hundreds of thousands to ensure that children are immunised and that surveillance is strong despite the poor infrastructure, extreme poverty, and civil disorder of many countries.
Our cause now has Bill Gates (pictured at left), who addressed the 2009 San Diego International Assembly and stated “Rotary in particular has inspired my own personal commitment to get deeply involved in achieving eradication”.
Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Rotary has been awarded two challenge grants totalling US$355
million to strongly support our resolve to eradicate the remaining 1% of global polio cases in all but 4 countries.
Without the Foundation, millions of people would be blind but are saved as a result of Rotary eye camps funded with the assistance of our Foundation.- Without the Foundation, millions of people would be dying from disease from drinking polluted water if it not for the 'Save Water, Save Lives' project. This project not only provided clean water for drinking, but also includes dams providing water.
- Without the Foundation, children in the Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, Thailand and Timor Leste had little opportunity to attend a school.
Their families had always been illiterate and the cycle would have continued unbroken had it not been for the Foundation sponsored literacy programs. - Without the Foundation, volunteers would not build hospitals, provide equipment (some of it obsolete in Australia, but state of the art in third world countries) and transport it through 'Donations In Kind' programs.
- Without the Foundation, untold numbers of Tibetans would have died from Tuberculosis that was rampant in that country. The Rotary Club of Sunshine contributed $10,000 and received a $270,000 humanitarian grant from the Foundation that went a long way to eliminating Tuberculosis from that country.
- Without the Foundation, 30,000 Solomon Islanders would not have become direct beneficiaries of Rotary’s Malaria Prevention Program initiated through a US$200,000 '3H grant' (Health, Hunger and Humanity), that was initiated and managed by a Rotary Club from Kenmore in Queensland and a Rotary Club in Honiara from the Solomon Islands.
In summary - a world without The Rotary Foundation would be a world dying from polio, with people blinded by cataracts, drinking diseased and polluted water, illiterate children having little hope for a future, people suffering and dying from inadequate medical facilities, suffering from ignorance about basic hygiene - all of the aspects of life we take for granted.
For each of these problems there is an appropriate Rotary Foundation solution available. All it needs is for you to become involved.
Consider playing a part by personally contributing to our Foundation (our own charity) and help to fulfil our promise as Rotarians.
For if you do you can say -
- Somewhere I have taught a child to read but will never hear that child speak.
- Somewhere I have built a house that I will never enter.
- Somewhere I have built a water tank but I will never taste its cool clean water.
- Somewhere with my help, a child is alive; runs and skips on strong legs, because I paid for a polio vaccine received by the child.
Is the Rotary Foundation relevant? OF COURSE IT IS!
Chris Don - Foundation Chair, 2009-2010
For further information:
List of District Foundation Projects
Login to accesss Rotary Foundation Forms and Brochures
