Jan 19:  QSR had the opportunity to learn more about Rotary and its' Foundation from Past President - and current Foundation Director - Geoff Cudmore.  Geoff has worked with the Rotary Foundation for several years, and it's this piece of the Rotary puzzle that allows Rotarians to do what we do on an international scale.  
 
2017 marks the centennial of the Foundation, started by then-President Arch Klump and a donation of $26.50 (serious money in 1917) by the Rotary Club of Kansas City.  Arch wanted Rotary to build a reserve fund to 'do good in the world'.  It worked:  today, the Rotary Foundation has over $1B in assets and has saved millions of lives over the past 100 years.  From installing public toilets in downtown Chicago, to building wells to clean water, to eradicating polio, the Rotary Foundation has literally changed the world.  
 
It's not just projects:  the Foundation offers Peace and Ambassadorial Scholarships, Youth and Vocational Exchanges, hosts Peace Centres around the world, and grants to help Rotary clubs tear down walls and build relationships.  As a non-political, non-religious organization, Rotary and its' Foundation has access to people and places that others simply don't.  
 
The Foundations' largest initiative has been the eradication of polio with the PolioPlus campaign.  Launched in 1985, Rotary has worked tirelessly local governments to earn trust and establish mass immunizations on the ground.  With the help of Rotarians around the world and local staff, 2.5 billion children have been immunized; this lofty goal is well within reach.
 
Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible and an easy way to transform lives around the globe.
 
The achievements of the Rotary Foundation are simply too numerous to mention here, so we encourage you to visit https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation for more information.
 
Thanks Geoff!