Program - Rotary International Foundation

John Goodrich will soon be our new District Governor for 5340 in 2019-2020. We watched a video showing 100 years of the Rotary Foundation. The first donation was $26.00 in early 1917. Since then, that number has grown to $3 Billion dollars donated worldwide.

After World War II, peace was on everybody’s mind. Today there are 6 Peace Centers on 4 Continents. Once Rotary tackled the eradication of polio, the number of new cases has dropped dramatically. Last year there were just 70 new cases in the world. A country must be polio free for three years before it is taken off the list of polio active countries. In 1965, Rotary Grants began for specific projects, such as ‘clean water’, ‘mothers and children’, ‘peace’, ‘growing economies’ to name a few. We must have the Vision to See, the Faith to Believe and the Courage to Act. Basic Education and Literacy, Peace and Conflict, Disease and Prevention, all things Rotary can help with. Rotary International does not fund anything. It is through donations that polio irradication is possible. Rotarians travel to the Middle East countries on their own dime to help. This year so far, Nigeria is the only country with new cases of Polio- 7. The Rotary Foundation is both local and global. It is transparent and efficient. Charity Navigator gives the Rotary Foundation high marks for using donated dollars efficiently. Submit a Grant Request! It’s not difficult. Christine Montan will help you.

Johnny Watson then spoke about the website: www.matching grants. Org. You would be amazed at the list of possibilities at the local and district level, anything from $5,000 to $30,000 can be leveraged with matching funds. If the request is for a global effort, then the amount can be over $30,000.00. For instance, there was a District Grant for $12,000 for school supplies in Nigeria after the Ebola outbreak. A disease prevention and treatment was sponsored in Uganda by Club 33 and 12 other Clubs. There’s micro-credit in Ecuador for $50,500 , which took 18 months to raise. The Thousand Smiles Project in Ensenada costs $85,000. 4 Clubs and 2 Districts helped. Potable water in Ecuador took 2 years to complete. The International Music Camp at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido was the site of the top high school musicians, 24 students from 12 countries.

You can help so easily to continue all these amazing works for only $10.00 a month to the Rotary Foundation. Please Help.