Five reasons to give to The Rotary Foundation

 

 

A child works on his studies thanks to books donated through a Rotary project. By contributing to the Foundation, you support basic education and literacy. Rotary Images/Monika Lozinska-Lee

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By donating to The Rotary Foundation, you support Rotary's six areas of focus, which help advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. 

Contributions to the Every Rotarian, Every Year  (EREY) initiative, are the primary source of funding for Foundation programs. By giving US$100 a year through EREY, you become a Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member. 

Here are a few ways your contributions are changing lives around the world.

5. Fighting hunger

In Romania, children have eggs, milk, and meat because of a Foundation grant that enables local farmers to buy animal feed, packaging materials, and other supplies. The farmers agree to donate a portion of their products to children's hospitals, schools, and orphanages.

In Alaska, USA, the Rotary Club of Anchorage East is also fighting hunger by distributing food to low-income families through a mobile food pantry.

Projects such as these address two areas of focus: maternal and child health and economic and community development.

4. Reducing child mortality

The Rotary clubs of Jaela-Kandana, Western Province, Sri Lanka, and Madras Northwest, Tamil Nadu, India, are helping to reduce child mortality by providing improved sanitation facilities for 15 families in a small community in Sri Lanka. With a Rotary Foundation grant, the clubs have built 14 toilets, helping to prevent the spread of diarrhea-causing diseases related to poor sanitation.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.8 million children die of diarrhea every year, making it the second leading cause of death among children under five. Proper sanitation can reduce the child mortality rate in many communities by more than 30 percent. Water and sanitation is one of the areas of focus.

3. Promoting peace and conflict resolution

As the policy director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Brasília, Brazil, former Rotary Peace Fellow Katia de Mello Dantas is helping to stop sexual abuse of children, including pornography, human trafficking, and abduction. Every day, at least 22,000 children worldwide are reported missing, and 5,000 are victimized through commercial sexual exploitation, according to the center.

Rotary Peace Fellows are leaders in promoting national and international cooperation, peace, and conflict resolution. Help support the Rotary Peace Centers.

Rotary is also promoting peace through three upcoming Rotary Global Peace Forums.

2. Basic education and literacy

A literacy project sponsored by Rotarians in South Africa and Rhode Island, USA, in conjunction with the International Reading Association and Operation Upgrade, is teaching adults in the rural community of KwaNibela, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to read and write. These skills will help them fight poverty in their community.

Through the effort, nearly 600 adults are attending literacy classes taught by instructors trained with help from Operation Upgrade, which specializes in adult basic education. Funding from The Rotary Foundation provided classroom books. Read more about the project, which supports the basic education and literacy area of focus.

1. Eradicating polio

Around the world, Rotarians are going the distrance -- participating in walkathons, climbing mountains, cycling, even circumnavigating a continent in rubber dinghies, among other  fundraisers -- to help Rotary rid the world of polio.

You also can raise awareness by taking part in the World's Biggest Commercial, where you can upload your photo and let people know we're "This Close" to ending polio. 

Since Rotary launched its PolioPlus program in 1985, eradicating the disease has become the organization's top priority. End Polio Now and help fulfill Rotary's promise to the world.