The Work of The Rotary Foundation

Hugh has been heavily involved in The Rotary Foundation work for sometime so he certainly knows what it is all about.  This morning he gave a brief and informative talk about the work of The Foundation and why we need to continue to it's work.

 

The Foundation was launched at the Atlanta Conference in 1917 with a donation - the princely sum of $26.50.  Since then The Foundation has raised over $US 3 billion.  2017 is the Centennial year for The Rotary Foundation so it was fitting for our club to find out more about what it does.  Then we need to come up with some ideas for how we are going to celebrate the amazing work it has been doing for the 100 years since it's inception.

 

In 1985 Polio Plus was launched as a means of combating the effects of the debilitating disease affecting many people in many different countries.  In 1985 there were over 500,000 cases of polio in some 150 countries.  By 2015 that had reduced to only 74 cases in 2 countries; and last year's statistics indicated that we are now down to only 11 cases in those same two countries. 

 

We can be very proud of our efforts which have been supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who supports out work on a $2:1 basis up to $38 million annually.

 

There are six areas that The Rotary Foundation focuses on providing funding for:  peace and conflict prevention or resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy and economic and community development.   The statistics show that some 80% of the people worldwide live in substandard housing; 70% cannot read and 50% are malnourished.  No wonder The Foundation has elected to work in those six areas.

 

Giving to The Rotary Foundation is essential to their work.  Funds collected are divided up into those that are returned to the District; and those that are invested and returned in other ways over a three year period.  No matter how much we give - we will always get it back somehow.  Currently the issue facing districts and The Foundation is that there has been a growth in clubs calling on the funds, but there has been little growth in the funds being provided by clubs in the first place. 

 

Hugh finished his talk by reminding us that we should be proud of what we have been able to achieve; but it can't be done without funding, so we need to continue to support The Rotary Foundation.