When was rotary founded

Listen to Carlos Canseco, RI president, describe the value of the Matching Grants program in a interview. In Guatemala, Matching Grants suport a facility that houses, feeds, and educates abused and abandoned girls under the age of The grants also outfit the facility's kitchen and bathrooms. The program is developed to improve health, alleviate hunger, and enhance human and social development. Rotary approves the first 3-H grant project after receiving a request to purchase polio vaccine for children in the Philippines.

At about the same time, Rotary President Clem Renouf, inspired by the worldwide eradication of smallpox, reaches out to Rotary member and microbiologist John Sever at the U.

National Institutes of Health, asking whether he thinks Rotary could target another disease. Sever recommends polio, and suggests that Renouf enlist the support of Dr. Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine. Both experts play an essential role in building the polio eradication program. Bomar Jr. With this project, Rotary begins what will become one of its best-known and proudest efforts — working to eliminate this devastating disease from the earth.

Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine, continues to play a pivotal role in advancing Rotary's commitment to eradication and getting other partners on board. Listen to Dr. Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine, emphasize the importance of mass immunizations in a speech at a Rotary convention. Trustees decide to create an Endowment Fund specifically for investing certain contributions in perpetuity, with the earnings going to support the Foundation's future ability to do good.

Today, it also reflects the fact that the infrastructure, fundraising, and advocacy methods developed for the polio eradication campaign also support efforts to fight other infectious diseases. In an early foray into international peace events, the Foundation organizes a series of peace forums in a three-year pilot.

The program provides funding for banners, brochures, T-shirts, caps, and other National Immunization Days promotional materials, as well as coolers essential for keeping the vaccine cold. Children gather in the street during a polio immunization campaign in Rani Kothi, outside Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The Rotary Peace Centers program develops leaders who become catalysts for peace and conflict prevention and resolution in their communities and around the globe. Members of the inaugural class of Rotary Peace Fellows begin studies in the fall of Skip to main content.

Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February , so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Members have a long track record of addressing challenges in their communities and around the world. Skip to main content. The Rotary Foundation helps Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.

Donate now. A grant helped a club in Durango, Colorado, USA, install more than solar lights in remote, off-the-grid Navajo homes. Rotarian and physician Pia Skarabis-Querfeld has spent years building a network of volunteer doctors to help refugees in Berlin, Germany. He was raised by his paternal grandparents in Vermont and attended the University of Vermont, Princeton, and the University of Iowa. Harris, a lawyer, was Rotary president from to and a member of the Rotary Club of Chicago until his death on 27 January He was a Rotarian for only a few years, never holding office at the club or international level.

But that first Rotary meeting was held in his office, Room of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. He died in Chicago on 23 May He was a Rotarian for only a few years, too.