This year's Rotary International Convention is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 10 to June 14. Rotarians from around the world will be convening to share stories, learn about youth programs, exchange ideas about peace and conflict resolution and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation. I looks to be a very festive occasion.
In 2017-18, we’ll answer the question “What is Rotary?” with RI President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley’s theme, Rotary: Making a Difference. “Whether we’re building a new playground or a new school, improving medical care or sanitation, training conflict mediators or midwives, we know that the work we do will change people’s lives — in ways large and small — for the better.”
If you asked a Rotarian if he or she belonged to Rotary International, the individual probably would look puzzled and answer, "Of course I'm a member of Rotary International." But in this instance, the confident Rotarian would be technically wrong. No Rotarian can be a member of Rotary International! The explanation of this apparent contradiction is simple. The constitutional documents of R.I. state that membership in Rotary International is limited to Rotary clubs. Over 33,000 Rotary clubs belong to the organization we call Rotary International. A Rotary club is composed of persons with the appropriate qualifications of good character and reputation with a business or professional classification . The Rotarian belongs to a club—the club belongs to Rotary International. This technical distinction is not obvious or even known to most Rotarians and seldom does it create any problems or complications. It does explain, however, why the Rotary International Board of Directors places expectations upon and extends privileges to Rotary clubs, rather than to individual Rotarians. If someone asks if you belong to Rotary International, your most accurate answer would be, "No, I belong to a Rotary club." But I doubt if anyone would understand the difference, or, in fact, would really care.
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about Water and sanitation.
Every day, 5,000 children under age five die from unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene. Past RI President William B. Boyd says: "It is true that water is life, and it is also sadly true that too many people have no access to clean, safe, drinkable water. Rotary has the expertise and the worldwide membership to save lives by providing potable water on a large scale."
Some magnificent projects grow from very small seeds. The Rotary Foundation had that sort of modest beginning.
In 1917, RI President Arch Klumph told the delegates to the Atlanta convention that “it seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.” The response was polite and favorable, but the fund was slow to materialize. A year later, the Rotary Endowment Fund, as it was originally labeled, received its first contribution of US $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, which was the balance of the Kansas City convention account following the 1918 annual meeting. Additional small amounts were contributed each year, but after six years the endowment fund had reached only $700.A decade later, The Rotary Foundation was formally established at the 1928 Minneapolis convention.
In the next four years, the Foundation fund grew to $50,000. In 1937, a $2 million goal was announced for The Rotary Foundation, but these plans were cut short and abandoned with the outbreak of World War II. In 1947, upon the death of Paul Harris, a new era opened for The Rotary Foundation as memorial gifts poured in to honor the founder of Rotary. From that time, The Rotary Foundation has been achieving its noble objective of furthering “understanding and friendly relations between peoples of different nations.” By 1954, the Foundation received for the first time a half million dollars in contributions in a single year, and in 1965 a million dollars was received.
It is staggering to imagine that from those humble beginnings, The Rotary Foundation is now receiving more than $65 million each year for educational and humanitarian work around the world.
Posted by Rotary Club of Twinsburg on Jan 30, 2017
The club has fundraisers and service events coming up!
Give our Club all the support you can to make it successful. We need all cylinders firing!!! Please do what you can to serve our club. If you not being asked to serve the club, ask where you can help!
Participate in Every Rotarian Every Year. Any amount you can contribute will help the success of Rotary International in your community and around the world. Let's try to become a 100% EREY club, where every member contributes something to the Rotary Foundation, either directly or through the club.
Think of another way in which you could serve our club, or help a committee chair with some of their responsibilities. Abby and Kathy are assembling the team for the next Rotary year. Help them in any way that you can, even if you have not been asked.
Posted by Rotary Club of Twinsburg on Jul 01, 2016
Things you can do to promote Rotary
1. Wear your Rotary pin daily.
2. Tell someone something about Rotary daily.
3. Invite a friend or co-worker to our next meeting or event.
4. Stay in touch with alumni.
5. Sponsor a new member to the club.
6. Give to the Rotary Foundation.
If you have any photographs or pictures of Rotary events both recent and in the past, please forward them to Philip Weiss or Laura Leonard for posting on the website. If you like we can also show you how to post them in the website yourself.
