Bala and Roma Murthy Testimonial – The Rotary Foundation

Posted by DGE Bala Murthy, President, Rotary International Travel & Hosting (ITHF) Fellowship
When the 2001 Bhuj earthquake hit in Gujrat India and 20,000 lives were lost in the devastation, our hearts broke. When we saw on Television, towns and villages were decimated, our hearts broke even more. Living in the US, we felt helpless as to how to help the families rebuild their lives. Both Roma and myself have visited Gujrat as tourists and on business, and had fallen in love with the Indian state. I reached out to Rotary International to find out how we could maximize the Rotary aid to this devastated region. Ultimately, multiple districts across the US, Canada and India came together to apply for Rotary disaster relief funding and grants. Because of the generosity of Rotarians through the Rotary Foundation, Rotary was able to help rebuild one of the hardest hit areas of the earthquake and re-erect the community, known today as Rotary Nagar (City of Rotary). The power of the Rotary Foundation was evident when clubs from across the globe came together to help in the time of a crisis.
 
As Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, I finished my MBA. The warmth and generosity of Rotary, ignited my passion to give back. In India, there's a saying that you don't just marry your spouse, but you marry the whole family.  My wife teasingly says that when we got married 36 years ago, she didn't just marry me, she married into the Rotary family!  
 
 
 
 
Both Roma and I feel we are so fortunate to be part of the greatest service organizations. We became Rotarians to become part of the 1.2 million army of like-minded people. We both feel that giving to Rotary Foundation is the best path for doing good in the world. We’ve tried to make giving to the Foundation a major part of our family, including my son and now his wife. My son grew up in Rotary and has witnessed the great work Rotarians have done through the Rotary Foundation. He has visited numerous Rotary supported schools and interacted with the children who have benefitted from this generosity.
Our son has distributed notebooks and writing instruments, and most recently donated 500 backpacks with his wife to Rotary sponsored schools. The Murthy Family, through their foundation, have supported a number of The Rotary Foundation Global Grants, Backpack for Life for blind school girls and orphanage children in India – to name a few.
 
We have been fortunate to help inaugurate chairs, desks and blackboards for a school of 300 children who had to sit on the ground to get their education. The generosity of the donations was through Rotary and matching grants.  Through Rotary, we have supported schools in many countries. Over the last 30 years, we have witnessed the generous support through the Rotary Foundation and the eagerness to help make the world a better place.
 
Due to work, I transferred from the Grand Blanc Rotary Club (D6330) to Detroit Rotary (D6400) and later to Washington DC Rotary (D7620) and now our Great Troy Rotary Club (D6380).  We have learnt that even though the four clubs are different in terms of how they operate, they are all consistently passionate about supporting the Rotary Foundation which allows them to continue the great projects across the globe.  
 
We are both enjoying our fellowship in Troy Rotary and D6380 and having so much fun working on various local and international projects, membership growth, fund raising and other related projects to support GrowRotary as well as giving to The Rotary Foundation.
 
In addition to being a past president, I have served on various club and district committees and led many of them. I was very fortunate to receive many awards from Rotary including “The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award”. I am now District Governor Elect for 2021-22. Roma has been the D6380 Membership Chair for two years. She has led number of innovative initiatives in pursuit of member growth including leading RIP Shekhar Mehta’s – Each One Bring One.
 
The friendship we have made are lifelong and working with like-minded folks has enriched and deepened our dedication to the “Service Above Self” motto of Rotary.

Roma & Bala Murthy, Balamurthy1@gmail.com