Rotary - a global network of volunteers
EVANSTON, Ill., USA -When Paul Harris, a young lawyer in Chicago, formed a club with three friends in 1905, he hoped to recapture the atmosphere of camaraderie and friendship he had experienced growing up in small-town America.
Because they rotated meetings between their offices, they called themselves the Rotary Club. Members met weekly to socialize and to plan projects to help the community.
More than a century later, Rotary has turned into a global movement, growing from a single club into a diverse, international network of 1.2 million, business and professional leaders united by the same desire to participate in fellowship and community service. Rotary has no political or religious agenda and is open to men and women of all backgrounds.
Rotary today is dedicated to fostering world peace and understanding through an array of humanitarian and educational programs aimed at the underlying causes of conflict, such as poverty, illiteracy, hunger, drought and disease.
With its network of more than 32,000 local clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical regions, Rotary works at the grassroots level to deliver practical assistance to communities in need. For more than 20 years, Rotary's top goal has been the eradication of the crippling disease polio, a job 99 percent achieved. Each year, hundreds of Rotary volunteers - working with partners from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - travel the world to administer oral polio drops to children in the remotest regions where polio remains a threat. By the time polio is eradicated, Rotary will have contributed nearly $650 million and countless volunteer hours to the victory.
Rotary's 1.2 million club members also carry out projects that provide water wells, install sanitation systems, and teach children and adults to read. Rotary is the world's largest privately funded source of international scholarships, each year allowing about 1,000 college students to begin study abroad as unofficial goodwill ambassadors.
Rotary's grassroots network of clubs gives it the flexibility to respond efficiently and effectively.
A History of the Rosamond Rotary
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