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Our Rotary Foundation
Take a New Look at the Rotary Foundation


Greetings and Happy New Year from your District Foundation Chair! It seems only fitting that as it is a new year, I should send this month’s message to New Rotarians. We tend to get so caught up in the business of Rotary that we sometimes forget that not everyone, particularly our newer members, might not be as familiar with all the functions as they would like. So, this month I want to focus on the History of the Foundation specifically. Therefore, if you are a seasoned Rotarian, you can take this month’s message off. However, before you do, I might point to this month’s quote.

It's hard to imagine that our strong Foundation has its roots in a $26.50 contribution from then outgoing Rotary President Arch Klumph at the 1917 Convention to set up an endowment with the words, “for the purpose of doing good in the world”. What a long way it has traveled and grown since then. Did you know that the Foundation has sponsored over 485 District Grants worth $30m, over 100 District Response Grants at $4m, and over 1,280 Global grants worth $72m and that’s just in the Rotary year 2023-2024! Add those numbers up and they are a far cry from $26.50. The Grants themselves fall in the following areas: Basic education and literacy, Community economic development; Disease prevention and treatment; Maternal and child health, Peacebuilding and conflict prevention; Water, sanitation and hygiene; and the Environment.

Over the course of 100plus years the Rotary Foundation has spent more than $4 billion dollars making lives better in every community it reaches and every place around the world it touches. Truly you can be proud to be a part of a Foundation and organization that lives up to its Mission statement: “The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.”

I know I’m proud to be a part of all that and I know you are too!! Happy New Year! 

Posted by Bob Hagan
January 3, 2025

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