Another Friday and another great meeting at The Pirates House. Jim Wellen completed all of his tasks in order to become a Blue Badge - congratulations Jim! We also had a banner exchange with a Rotarian from Illinois. Once all Rotary business items were discussed, our very own, Dr. Ed Donoghue, presented to the club about The Rotary Foundation.
Arch Klumph started the Rotary Foundation in 1917 at the Rotary International Conference which was held in Georgia. The first contribution made was from a club in Kansas City, Missouri and the amount was $26.50. In 1928, the Foundation broke away from RI to become its own entity. Since then, over $2 billion dollars has been donated to the Rotary Foundation. The Foundation has many missions with one being to eradicate polio worldwide. There are now only two countries who have confirmed cases of polio - Pakistan and Afghanistan. They also work on clean water, disease prevention, education and peace. Most of this is done through humanitarian and educational grants. 90% of the money donated to RF goes towards charity work. It is a very efficient and well managed organization that truly is making a difference in people's lives. The money goes to polio plus, district grants, global grants, and Rotary peace centers.
There are many ways you can contribute to the Rotary Foundation. You can donate online and mail in a check. Every quarter, each member of RCSE donates $25 to the Foundation through our dues. Ed also touched on how to become a Paul Harris Fellow. In order to be a Paul Harris Fellow, a Rotarian would need to donate $1000 to the Foundation or have donated money and received points from another Rotarian. Ed generously agreed to share 500 points with our members in order to help them achieve Paul Harris Fellow status.