What is Rotary?

Posted by Mel Stewart 
 
Rotary International, the world's most prestigious service club organization, comprises more than 32,000 clubs in over 168 countries. More than 1.2 million worldwide members form a global network of business and professional leaders who volunteer their time and talents to serve their communities and the world. Rotarians are committed to humanitarian service, high ethical standards in all vocations, and goodwill and peace in our global community.
 

Rotary is the world's first service club. Celebrating its Centennial in 2005, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA was formed February 23, 1905 by lawyer Paul P. Harris and three friends. Harris wished to recapture the friendly spirit he had felt among business people in the small town where he had grown up. The name "Rotary" was derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among member's offices.

Oklahoma celebrated its statehood in 1907 and its first Rotary Club on November 7, 1911 when the Iron Cross Club officially join Rotary as the 29th national club. Edmond Summit Rotary is the newest of 3 Edmond Rotary clubs and one of our district's 42 clubs in North Central and Northwest Oklahoma. We have a rich history as Rotarians from this District have participated in the goals and projects of Rotary - both locally and throughout the world.

The main objective of Rotary is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotary is some 1.3 million service-minded men and women belonging to more than 32,000 Rotary clubs in virtually every nation in the world. Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace. Rotary's motto, Service Above Self, exemplifies the humanitarian spirit around the globe.

Rotarian's plan and carry out a remarkable variety of humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs that touch people's lives in their local communities. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational and career development.

Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes world understanding through international humanitarian service programs and educational and cultural exchanges. It was created in 1917 by Rotary International's sixth president, Arch C. Klumph, as an endowment fund for Rotary "to do good in the world." The Foundation is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and others who share its vision of a better world. Since 1947, the Foundation has awarded more than US$1.1 billion in humanitarian and educational grants, which are initiated and administered by local Rotary clubs and districts.

Hope for Our Future
"From Seattle to Santiago, from Bogota to Bombay, and everywhere in between, the children of the world are waiting. They are the hope of the future, and you are their hope that the future will be bright. I thank you, Rotary, for alleviating the suffering of children."
              Audrey Hepburn discussing the PolioPlus program on behalf of UNICEF