The Rotary Foundation - Changing Lives

John Sunwick, Club Foundation Chair, provided a great insight into The Rotary Foundation.  By giving $100 a year - less than $2 a week- to the Annual Programs Fund, (contributions that provide immediate funding for the Foundation's cultural, humanitarian, and educational programs), Rotarians help further the mission of The Rotary Foundation (which is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty).

The Foundation's major project at this point in time is the "Polio Plus" program - a worldwide project to eliminate polio around the world.  After 20 years of tremendous work, Rotary and its partners are on the cusp of eradicating this disease.  Your contributions will help Rotary raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The resulting $555 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countires, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children.

By giving $100 a year through the Every Rotarian, Every Year  (EREY) initiative, you become a Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member. Contributions to EREY are the primary source of funding for Foundation programs.

Here are a few ways your contributions are making change possible.

5. Fighting hunger

In Romania, orphans and sick children have eggs, milk, and meat because of a Foundation grant that benefits local farmers. The farmers are able to buy everything from animal feed to packaging materials. There is one stipulation: They must donate a portion of their products to children's hospitals, schools, and orphanages.

In Alaska, USA, the Rotary Club of Anchorage East is also fighting hunger  by distributing food to low-income families through a mobile food pantry.

Projects such as these help address the areas of focus of maternal and child health as well as economic and community development.

4. Reducing child mortality

The Rotary clubs of Jaela-Kandana, Western Province, Sri Lanka, and Madras Northwest, Tamil Nadu, India, are helping to reduce child mortality by providing improved sanitation facilities for 15 families in a small community in Sri Lanka. With a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant , the clubs have built 14 toilets, helping to prevent diarrhea and other diseases related to poor sanitation.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.8 million children die of diarrhea every year, making it the second leading cause of death among children under five. Proper sanitation can reduce the rate of child mortality in many communities by up to a third. Water and sanitation is the third area of focus.

3. Promoting peace and conflict resolution

Watching civil war tear apart his homeland of Côte d'Ivoire instilled in Rotary Peace Fellow Kouame Remi Oussou a passion to resolve conflict.

He is now working for the United Nations Development Programme  in the Central African Republic, a country that weathered periodic internal fighting before a comprehensive peace accord took effect in 2007. Read more about Oussou .

Rotary Peace Fellows  are leaders in promoting national and international cooperation, peace, and conflict resolution. Help support the Rotary Peace Centers . Peace and conflict prevention/resolution is the first area of focus. Read about four Rotary Peace Fellows and their visions for peace .

2. Basic education and literacy

Education helps rebuild lives, whether it's in small rural towns or in war-torn countries. For example, a literacy project sponsored by U.S. Rotarians in conjunction with the International Reading Association (IRA) is helping Sudanese refugees rebuild their communities by equipping them to teach future generations.

The Southern Sudan Teacher Training Initiative provides refugees of the country's decades-long civil war, who are known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan, with teacher training materials, guidance, and support to help them teach students in kindergarten through eighth grade. "People returning from refugee camps to rebuild their lives in Duk County are hungry for books and school supplies," says John Dau, a Lost Boy, humanitarian, and founder of the John Dau Foundation. Read more about the project .

1. Eradicating polio

Around the world, Rotarians are taking millions of steps in walkathons, diving into icy ocean waters, and participating in other fundraisers to help Rotary fulfill its promise to rid the world of polio. Si Burgher, of the Rotary Club of Bloomfield, Indiana, USA, raised almost $1,600 by having his shaggy eyebrows shaved.

Rotary launched its PolioPlus program  in 1985. Since then, eradicating polio has been the organization's top priority.  End Polio Now  and help fulfill its promise.