Rotary Foundation Moments

 

 

"The Rotary Foundation is not [designed] to build monuments of brick and stone.  If we work upon marble, it will perish; it we work with brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust.  But if we work upon immortal minds, it we imbue them with the full meaning of the spirit of Rotary ... we are engraving on those tablets something that will brighten all eternity."  -- Arch C. Klumph, 1916017 President of Rotary International. posted 1/13/2016

 

"The five [Rotarians] who chose me to become a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar are gone ... but they're not.  They never will be.  Because along the way, I will in my own way share with others -- and have -- what those five men ... did in 1956 when they said, "Bill MOyers, you can matter."  -- Bill Moyers, journalist and commentator.  posted 1/13/2016

 

 

 

 

 

There are six Rotary Peace Centers located around the world at leading universities. At the Peace Centers, scholars work for either a two-year master's degree or a three-month certificate.  Either way, they graduate with a common skill set and ready to tackle the world's humanitarian problems.  The program is paid for out of a special endowment; neither the student nor the club/district that sponsors that student pay toward the fellowship.  If you know a young person (or not so young) who has several years' working experience and wants to do good in the world, recommend that they check out the Rotary Peace Centers.  Who knows, the person your club sponsors could go on to change the world! Posted 11/28/2015

 

The Rotary Foundation has closed the door on a second full year of the new grants model and there's lots of good news to report:  The Foundation awarded 1078 Global Grants in 2014-15, up 24 percent from the previous years' total.  The dollar value of Global Grants totaled $64.9 million.  The most popular Area of Focus was Disease Prevention and treatment, followed closely by Water and Sanitation.  The Rotary Foundation also awarded 487 District Grants, totaling $23.8 million. Posted 11/28/2015

 

 

Yes! Rotary grants involving projects, scholarships or vocational teams can focus on the US and Canada, just as much here as anywhere else in the world.  Criteria must be met, but clubs in our District have been instrumental in developing and supporting grants after Katrina, Sandy, and most especially  right here in New England after Irene. But it doesn't take a superstorm to develop a Global Grant.  In Massachusetts, Rotary Clubs came together and installed cameras in neonatal units so Moms and Dads could monitor their babies 24/7.  All it takes is a great idea - and an international partner  updated 4/4/2016

 

 

 

 

Rotary was instrumental in helping start both UNESCO and the UN back in the 1940s, and has continued the relationship with work with UNICEF to help end polio, as well as with other UN agencies on a myriad of humanitarian actions.  So it's appropriate that the UN annually turns over its facilities to Rotary International for a special day each year, a day marked by UN and Rotary speakers who discuss our interests in common.  This year, once again, a busload of District 7780 Interactors traveled to New York City for the festivities, and a number of our Rotarians were there as well. Updated 11/29/2015

 

Not to be confused with a Paul Harris Fellow (which means a life-time gift of $1000 to The Rotary Foundation's annual fund), the Paul Harris Society is the name given to those Rotarians who pledge a $1000 gift annually.  You may know these committed individuals -- they wear a "flag" below their Rotary pin that reads "PHS."  One easy way to give at the $1000 level is through Rotary Direct -- sign up and an amount of money you designate is automatically deducted from your account each month.  Learn more at www.rotary.org.  Members of the Paul Harris Society know that the need never ends -- and neither should the giving. Posted 10/26/2015

 

 

Neighbors helping neighbors and supporting their  businesses was a catalyst for Paul Harris to create Rotary and the reason behind our classification system.  Fast-forward 110 years, and today, Rotary is even more focused on economic and community development. As one of our six Areas of Focus, The Rotary Foundation supports investments in people to create measurable and endurable economic improvements in their lives and communities.  We invest in people to create sustainable, long-term improvements in their communities.  This investment takes many forms:  microcredit loans, Vocational Training Teams (such as the team of mental healthcare workers this District is sending to Argentina this coming winter), and scholarships.  Posted 10/3/2015

 

 

 

 

 

Last September 25, the Polio Oversight Board met ot determine the next steps needed to eradicate polio.  The group concluded that $1.5 billion in new funding is needed to help Rotary and its partners end polio in the next few years.  With Nigeria now polio-free, spending will focus ont he most vulnerable children in Afghanistan and Pakistan while continuing to shield millions of children already living in endemic polio-free countries.  Currently, for every dollar that Rotary raises for the fight against polio, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "matches" with a two dollar gift.  Now, that's leverage!   Posted 10/3/2015
 

Why is it called "PolioPlus"? The "plus" in the name refers to all the other diseases that Rotary is fighting as it is doing its polio eradication work.  All children who receive the oral vaccine also receive a dose of Vitamin A.  The "cold chain" of refrigerators purchased to hold the polio vaccine also holds other critical vaccines, including tetanus (which significantly cuts deaths during childbirth).  And most recently, the infrastructure developed by the PolioPlus committee in Nigeria was instrumental in keeping the Ebola virus from attacking in that country last year.   Posted 6/28/2015
 

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