DIRECTOR: Roger Morgan
The Rotary Foundation is where much of the fundraising at club level through 35,000 clubs with 1.2 million members is directed. Those funds are invested for a short time and then distributed back to the clubs to fund humanitarian projects all round the world. The most well known is our Polio Plus program. The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions.
Do You Know about the Rotary Peace Centres?
There are seven Rotary Peace Centres located around the world at leading universities. At the Peace Centres, scholars work for either a two-year master's degree or a three-month certificate. Either way, they graduate with a common skill set and ready to tackle the world's humanitarian problems. The program is paid for out of a special endowment; neither the student nor the club/district that sponsors that student pay toward the fellowship. If you know a young person (or not so young) who has several years' working experience and wants to do good in the world, recommend they check out the Rotary Peace Centres.
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Duke University/University, North Carolina, USA
University of Bradford. Bradford, England
International Christian University. Tokyo, Japan
University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD Australia
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Bahçeşehir Universit, Istanbul, Turkey.
The mission of the Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through improvements in health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty.
The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation, who share its vision of a better world. Following the naming of The Rotary Foundation by Charity Navigator as one of only a handful of charities having a perfect score in their rating system, the American Society of Professional Fundraisers has awarded The Rotary Foundation with the highest score for 13 consecutive years (December 2020).
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
Through the Foundation, Rotary is dedicated to seven areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.
Doing Good Just Got Easier!
Want to give to The Rotary Foundation?
You can give online via https://www.rotaryfoundationaustralia.org.au/action/donate to donate or sign up for automatic withdrawal monthly; you choose amount.
Please be aware that contributions to our Foundation should be made to the Australian Rotary Foundation Trust to receive tax deductibility for contributions.
Introducing the District 9790 PolioPlus Society
A great opportunity to do good in the world.
This Society is a District 9790 program to promote individual giving to the PolioPlus Fund.
To belong, you commit to donating AUD $160 ($100 USD) or more per year and pledge to do so until polio is completely eradicated. It is as simple as that!
For your pledge, you will receive a PolioPlus Society pin, and a PolioPlus Society certificate, along with the knowledge that you are part of making Polio history. Your membership pin and certificate will be mailed to your Club President for presentation at a club meeting. We want to make sure you are recognised for your commitment to polio eradication. We cannot express how important it is to keep funding the polio eradication program. It has been a long battle, but we need to finish the job. In 1985 we promised the children of the world that we would eradicate this devastating disease of Polio from the face of the earth. Rotarians are people of integrity, and we keep our promises.
Of course, all donations will receive a 2 to 1 match by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation making this an even better opportunity, as well as receiving Paul Harris recognition points for your donation. Plus, you will receive a tax-deductible receipt.
As a member of the Society, you pledge to donate a minimum of AUD $160 ($100 USD) each year until the world is certified polio free by the World Health Organisation.
To become a member, go to https://www.rotary.org/en/donate and under featured causes, select the Polio Fund. Click on recurring donation and make it annually for $160 or more.
To receive your pin and certificate, fill in the PolioPlus Society pledge form. Email the completed form to Melissa Hebbard at melissahebbard@outlook.com
In rural Ghana, Rotary members supply clean water and sanitation facilities to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives. However, at least 3,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates Rotary to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure.
While very few people die of thirst, millions die from preventable waterborne diseases, providing the impetus for our members to also improve sanitation facilities in undeveloped countries. Members start by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure, and then add education programs to promote hand-washing and other good hygiene habits.
Rotary SAFE Families was established in 2018 to help stop all forms of family violence, by addressing its underlying causes. It has evolved into a national program with valuable resources and tools, including films, promotional videos, messages, images, referenced Manual/Toolkit, and monthly Newsletters to assist every Rotarian in every part of Australia to play their part in ‘Stopping Abuse in Families Everywhere’.
GERIATRIC SERVICES FOR UGANDA AT LAST BY ROTARY
Geriatric units provide critical services to the aged, however Uganda’s medical system simply does not provide these services. Rotary has funded geriatric training for Ugandan GP Dr Michael Ssonko to enable him to deliver geriatric services and training in the country.
BETTER NUTRITION FOR WOMEN AND INFANTS IN PNG BY ROTARY
Half the children in rural PNG are malnourished. There is little awareness that malnourished children may be irreparably impaired for life - physically, socially and mentally. This project addressed that issue by building understanding of the link between nutrition and healthy child development.
STOPPING ABUSE IN FAMILIES EVERYWHERE BY ROTARY
In Australia, the reality of where and to whom family abuse occurs shows it can and does happen to all kinds of people in all suburbs. Rotary SAFE Families campaigns for primary prevention of abuse. ‘Stop Abuse in Families Everywhere’ was established in 2018.
IMPROVING LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES BY ROTARY
Several Rotary Clubs and Districts in Australia and the USA came together to help improve the exposure to reading and counting in the home environment of pre-school children in Yarrabah, Far North Queensland
PROVIDING AFFORDABLE DRINKING WATER FOR 4,000 VILLAGERS BY ROTARY
Rotary and supporters secured US$36,000 to develop low-cost water treatment systems for 4,000 villagers throughout Southern Thailand, providing ready access to clean drinking water and handwashing.
SUPPORTING KIDNEY DISEASE PATIENTS IN OUTBACK AUSTRALIA BY ROTARY
Australian and USA clubs and districts funded the A$200,000 purchase of medical equipment to set up a diagnosis and dialysis facility in far northwest South Australia at Pukatja, which is an extremely remote indigenous community in South Australia.
What do RABBITS and POLIO have in common?
The introduction of myxomatosis in the 1950s eradicated 99.8% of the rabbit population. We have now eradicated over 99.8% of the wild polioviruses from the World.
We know what happened when we didn't finish the job with the rabbits. Let’s not do the same with polio!
We need to keep immunising EVERY child for as long as wild Polio still exists, and this is an enormous and expensive job. We need every Rotary club, and indeed every Rotarian to make an effort to help us stamp out this dreadful disease.
Polio Awareness Day falls on 24th October every year. It would be wonderful if EVERY Rotary Club in our District makes some effort, large or small, to do something on or before that day to raise funds for polio eradication.
Today, over 70 million people are displaced as a result of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. Half of them are children.
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict.
We believe good health care is everyone’s right, yet 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have access to basic health care.
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, malaria and Covid19. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life.
We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.
Rotary makes high-quality health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger.
Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
Nearly 800 million people live on less than $1.90 a day. Rotarians are passionate about providing sustainable poverty solutions.
We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment.
Rotary members are tackling environmental issues the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy and planning for the future.
End Polio Now
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever. Your support will help eradicate this paralysing disease. Since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979, Rotary members have contributed more than US$2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralysing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than US$10 billion to the effort. MORE
