We should not live for ourselves alone, but for the joy of doing good for others, Arch C. Klumph, 1929. Rotarian Arch Klumph is best known as the father of The Rotary Foundation.
This past week we had the honor of recognizing more of our members as Paul Harris Fellows! Presenting a Paul Harris Fellow Award is the Rotary Foundation’s way of expressing its appreciation for a substantial contribution to its humanitarian and educational programs. It is named for our Rotary founder, a Chicago attorney, who, with three of his business associates, started the Rotary movement in 1905. The Rotary Foundation, founded at the suggestion of Arch Klumph in 1917, has distributed over 4 billion dollars through the years. The Rotary Foundation (TRF) allows Rotarians to address humanitarian needs by means of District Grants, Global Grants and its Polio Plus program. Our club has contributed more than $640,000 since our inception.
Funds distributed by the Foundation in the form of grants, reflect the stated goals of Rotary including child and maternal health, environmental concerns, community and economic development, illness and disease prevention, peace building and conflict resolution, water related concerns and literacy and education. In the year 2022-2023, the Foundation donated over $278,784,000 in grants for our areas of focus. Within District 6960, Rotary Clubs have used District Grants to fund hurricane recovery, food pantries, school literacy programs, Josh the Otter swimming safety training, among many others.
The Rotary Foundation is Rotary’s number one means of financially reaching out to the world and the Foundation consistently scores four stars on Charity Navigator.
Congratulations to all the recipients and to the club itself for its consistent and generous commitment and support of the Foundation.
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary meets at the Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way and also on zoom. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., the meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. For more information about Rotary, please visit sanibelrotary.org. All are welcome!
