The Rotary Foundation may be one of the world's best kept secrets. Ask any Rotarian what the Foundation is, and what it does, and you will hopefully get an earful of information. Ask a member of the public, and you may receive a blank stare. Although the Foundation has been around since 1917, its' goals and mission have largely gone unnoticed by the general public. First, a little history:
Rotary was formed in 1905 by Paul Harris a Chicago business man. It began as a businessman's group. The meetings rotated from business to business thus the name Rotary seemed to fit the organization. The club was not only a business networking club, it was also a service club dedicated to doing service for the Community.
The idea of community service quickly spread to other communities and the rest is history. Rotary clubs expanded to other countries and eventually became know as Rotary International. This really established Rotary as an international service club. With this change, it became evident of the need for the club to make its presence know on the world stage.
The idea of establishing a Foundation to support the ideals of Rotary was proposed in 1917. The founder of The Rotary Foundation was Arch Klumph. He proposed that an endowment be set up "for the purpose of doing good in the world." The Rotary Foundation has grown from its first initial donation of $26.50, to a Foundation that currently takes in approximately 70 million dollars per year.
The Rotary Foundation is certainly the "heart and soul" of Rotary. The mission of the Foundation became that of advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The Rotary Foundation has accomplished this by establishing programs in three general areas: Humanitarian grants, Educational programs and the Polio Plus program.
ADVERTISEMENT
Humanitarian grants include those grants that support short-term local humanitarian projects. There are matching grants where dollars raised locally are matched with dollars from The Rotary Foundation to fund International service projects which involve two or more clubs in two or more countries.
The Rotary Foundation supports a Health, Hunger, and Humanity (3-H) grant which funds programs that are meant to become self-sustaining after the grant monies are spent. The 3-H grants must involve Rotary clubs in at least two or more countries with a significant number of Rotarians actually participating in the project. A common goal of all of these programs is Rotarians working with other Rotarians in foreign countries to deliver needed services.
Educational programs include an Ambassadorial Scholarship program, which is one of the largest international scholarship programs in the world. Students are awarded scholarships to a University in a foreign country where they serve as unofficial ambassadors of goodwill.
The Group study exchange program is a cultural exchange of teams made up of non-Rotarians traveling to each others countries. The Rotary Foundation provides monies for fellowships for persons to study at Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution.
One of The Rotary Foundation's programs which has made a huge impact in the world is the Polio Plus program. In 1985 The Rotary Foundation through its Polio plus program established a goal to eradicate polio. More than 2 billion children have received the Polio vaccine and The Rotary Foundation is very close to realizing its goal. Polio remains endemic in only four countries on the face of the Earth.
The Rotary Foundation has come a long way from it's beginnings in 1917. The primary focus of Foundation programs is the involvement of Rotarians and Rotary clubs in the delivery of needed Educational, Humanitarian, and the Polio Plus programs around the globe. It is through the generous donations of Rotarians and other supporters of Rotary around the world that The Rotary Foundation is able to fund these projects.
The Rotary Foundation truly has made a difference in enabling Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
Ted Heisserer is the foundation chair for the Detroit Lakes Breakfast Club.
