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What is Rotary?
Rotary club members are business and professional leaders who
volunteer in their communities and promote world understanding and peace.
Rotary's 31,000 clubs in more than 165 countries and regions encourage high
ethical standards and carry out humanitarian projects to address such issues as
poverty, health, hunger, education, and the environment
Founded in Chicago in 1905 as the world's first volunteer
service organization, Rotary quickly expanded around the globe. Clubs meet
weekly for fellowship to discuss local and global topics. Clubs are
nonreligious, nongovernmental, and open to every race, culture, and creed.
Through more than ninety-five million US dollars in Rotary
Foundation grants each year, Rotary clubs support community projects at home and
abroad. Known as the world's largest private provider of international education
scholarships, The Rotary Foundation funds more than 1,000 students annually to
study overseas and act as cultural ambassadors. Rotary also partners with
eight prestigious universities around the globe to educate mid-career
professionals in peace and conflict resolution.
PolioPlus is Rotary's flagship program. Rotary club
members contributed over six-hundred million US dollars and countless
volunteer hours to help immunize over two billion (yes, billion) children
against polio by Rotary's centennial year, in 2005. Spearheading partners
in the Global Polio eradication Initiative include the World Health
Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control &
Prevention, and UNICEF.
Source: Rotary International Pamphlet 419-EN:
What's Rotary
PROJECTS: Rotary clubs participate in a broad range of humanitarian,
intercultural, and educational activities designed to improve the human
condition. Rotary’s humanitarian grants support club projects that provide
health care and medical supplies, clean water, food, job training, youth
development, and education to millions of people in need — particularly in the
developing world. In addition, Rotary provides more than 200 grants each year to
fund the work of Rotary volunteers, who travel to parts of the world where their
technical expertise and knowledge are most needed to alleviate hardship and
solve problems.
PEACE:
Rotary builds understanding through international scholarships,
exchange programs, and humanitarian grants. In 2002, Rotary launched the Rotary
Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, an
innovative program designed to educate tomorrow’s peacemakers. Hosted at seven
leading universities around the globe, the program funds 70 World Peace Scholars
each year for graduate studies in international relations, conflict studies, and
negotiation — providing promising leaders the tools to further the cause of
peace. Some 35,000 students from 110 countries have also studied abroad since
1947 as Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars. Rotary’s Group Study Exchange has helped
more than 45,000 young professionals explore their career fields in other
countries. And, each year some 8,000 secondary- school students experience life
in another country through Rotary’s Youth Exchange program.
POLIO ERADICATION:
In 1985, Rotary launched PolioPlus, an ambitious program to
immunize the world’s children against polio. Rotary’s grassroots leadership,
volunteer support, and initial funding for vaccine provided the catalyst for the
World Health Assembly’s resolution in 1988 to eradicate polio worldwide.
Spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are the World
Health Organization, Rotary International, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and UNICEF.
As a result of this partnership’s efforts, polio cases have
dropped by 99 percent since 1988, and the world stands on the threshold of
eradicating the disease. Rotary members have given more than half-a-billion U.S.
dollars and countless hands-on volunteer hours to this critical effort. The
savings to be realized from polio eradication are potentially as high as US$1.5
billion per year - funds that could be used to address other public health
priorities. The savings in human suffering will be immeasurable.
PROGRESS:
Paul P. Harris formed the world’s first service club, the
Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905. The Rotary motto is Service Above
Self and, as it celebrates its centennial, Rotary continues to concern itself
with truth, fairness, improved relations between peoples, and world peace.
During World War II, Rotary members increasingly became involved in promoting
international understanding. A Rotary conference held in London in 1942 planted
the seeds for the development of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and some 50 Rotary members served as delegates
and consultants at the founding of the United Nations. Today, Rotary holds the
highest consultative status with the United Nations that a nongovernmental
organization can obtain. In this capacity, Rotary has a voice within the UN
system allowing access to its people and resources worldwide.
PEOPLE:
Belonging to a Rotary club gives men and women an enjoyable
and organized way to make a contribution to their community. Rotary members meet
weekly to plan club, community, and international service activities. By using
their skills and expertise globally, members also enhance their professional
network, career development, and cross-cultural understanding. Rotary clubs are
nonreligious, nongovernmental, and open to every race, culture, and creed.
Members represent a cross section of local business and professional leaders. To
learn more about a Rotary club in your community, please visit the information
for prospective members section of the Rotary International Web site at
www.rotary.org or contact your local club.
Source: Rotary International website
downloadable pamphlet (001-EN): "This Is Rotary"
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The Rotary Club of Jenkintown has been dedicated to
"Service Above Self"
since 1924