The Rotary Foundation: 100 years of doing good in the world

In celebration of The Rotary Foundation's 100th birthday, here's some basic information about the good the Foundation has done:

Mission: to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

Founded: In 1917 through the suggestion of Arch Klumph, President of the Rotary Club of Cleveland. Rotary was 12 years old. Contributions are voluntary.

First contributions: In 1930, The Foundation contributed $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children, now known as Easter Seals. Also in the 1930s, sponsored essay contests for secondary students on peace related topics, and founded Institute for international Understanding to host speakers to discuss critical world issues.

Historically:

·         From the 1960s, Health, Hunger, and Humanity grants provided millions of dollars annually to multi-year health related projects from eye camps to prosthetic limbs to mobile clinics in remote areas. Literacy projects were also funded.

·         Matching grants provided tens of millions of dollars to fund clean water, sanitation, vocational training, and other quality of life projects worldwide since the 1960s.

·         Polio Plus, founded in 1979, seeks to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. In the mid-1980s, The Foundation $247 million dollars toward the effort. At that time, 350,000 children were afflicted by polio every year. Today, that number has been reduced by 99.9 percent, and polio is endemic in only two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Today:

·         The Foundation’s assets are more than $1 billion dollars.

·         Rotary Peace Fellows study at six Rotary Peace Centers worldwide.

·         The Foundation supports vocational training teams, groups of professionals who travel abroad either to teach local professionals about a particular field or to learn more about their own.

·         District Grants fund $25 million annually in small scale short-term humanitarian projects that address needs in local communities and communities abroad.

·         Global Grants support $70 million annually in large-scale international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in one or more of Rotary’s six areas of focus. Grant sponsors form international partnerships and work together to develop projects that provide sustainable quality of life improvements.

Contributions:

·         Anyone can contribute to The Rotary Foundation. Most Rotarians in the U.S. contribute $100 annually. The Rotary Club of Millcreek builds this contribution into its quarterly dues.

·         Individuals who contribute $1,000 become Paul Harris Fellows, named for the founder of Rotary.

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       For more information, visit www.rotary.org