There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians around the globe, all committed to serving their community and building a better world. Whilst there are many people that know a Rotarian, or have heard of Rotary, very few know about Rotary’s secret weapon against poverty and depravation. The Rotary Foundation.The Rotary Foundation has been around for 105 years, is funded primarily from Rotary member’s contributions and has significant resources to bring to bear on it’s seven key focus points. Peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, Water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, Economic and community development and the environment.
Any one of the 46,000 Rotary Clubs or 500 Districts in the world can apply to the Foundation for a grant. The recovery from the Christchurch Earthquake was a case in point, in the words of the NZ Governor General, speaking in Christchurch after the quakes; “It did not surprise me that of the 140 awards given to individuals and organisations one was received by Rotary District 9970 and Rotary International. In particular, the awards recognised acts of kindness, service and heroism and resonated with Rotary’s international theme: “Reach within to embrace humanity.”
In District 9920, including the Rotary Clubs within south and east Auckland and several Pacific Islands, Past District Governor Jennie Herring has been the Chair of the Rotary Foundation from 2019-2022. The Fund has flourished during her tenure.
Under her watch the Foundation supported and contributed to hundreds of projects in the local communities. These grants were for education, health, water and community development. The District also participated in a number of Global Grants,
Whilst there is no doubt that the past two years have been extremely difficult for clubs, especially raising funds for the Rotary Foundation, local clubs and individuals raised $156k, more than 20% up on prior year. In addition local Rotarians raised a further $57k for the End Polio Campaign which was then matched with the Bill Gates Foundation is $171k. Since its inception in the late 1970’s the Rotary led campaign to eradicate polio has seen the number of endemic countries drop from 125 to 2. Rotary and its Foundation in action, wow.
Changing the world for the better is what Rotarians do, the Rotary Foundation is how we do it.