Jagi Shahani then kicked off the 2026 Rotary Foundation (TRF) Campaign, which runs October 21 through November 18. (November is Rotary Foundation Month.) TRF, Rotary’s charitable arm, funds our humanitarian work and the fight against polio.
Wyatt Adams of the Rotary Club of Palo Alto knows polio firsthand. He caught it at age 9 and spent time in an Alabama hospital ward before going home with no lasting effects, then went on to West Point and the Air Force. Polio is highly contagious and often has no symptoms, so it spreads easily with travel. The U.S. had 50,000 cases in the 1950s, and the wild virus was eradicated here, but vaccine-derived virus has turned up in Brooklyn sewer water around 2022. Cases in Afghanistan rose sharply in 2025 and 2026. Consider donating today, and join Polio Plus at $100 a year until polio is gone. Our club (through CREF) gives $5,000 to Polio Plus each year.
The ask: Every member gives at whatever level they can. The suggested level is Double Sustainer ($200); Sustainer is $100, Super Sustainer $500, and Paul Harris $1,000. The minimum is $25.
The goal: $60,000, with a stretch goal of $70,000. Last year we blew past $60,000 with $90,000. So far, 53 donors (25% of our 210 members) have given $31,000.
The leverage: Our Annual Share goes entirely to international projects. TRF invests it for three years, then returns it as District Designated Funds plus an 80-cents-per-dollar Foundation match, which Jagi calls “SuperDuper Dollars.” Our $104,807 is now supporting projects worth $2,239,136, and our total giving since inception is $3,059,938. We are the Catalyst!
Case in point: Clean Water for the Western Highlands of Guatemala, in the Central American Dry Corridor, where residents must collect surface water. Sixty-three Rotary clubs from 12 districts raised $430,654, World Vision matched it with $400,000, and local communities contributed money and labor.
How to give: Use the mailer, give online at tinyurl.com/trf2627donation, or give Frances a check made out to The Rotary Foundation (not CREF). For donor-advised funds or 401(k)s, ask Jagi or Stuart for the wording. Team captains will be calling you.
Alysa Sakkas asked, “What if Rotary could help eliminate polio from the face of the earth?” Since Rotary launched its effort in 1985, wild polio has fallen from 350,000 cases a year to 52 in 2025 and 42 so far in 2026, all in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Vaccine-derived cases persist (245 in 2025, 189 so far in 2026). Rotary has given more than $2.9 billion, second only to the Gates Foundation, protecting more than 3 billion children in 122 countries. Just $3 vaccinates a child, $25 or more to Polio Plus earns Paul Harris points, and the Polio Plus Society asks $100 a year until polio is gone
