WHAT IS ROTARY?
ROTARY is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service,encourage high ethical standards
in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. The Rotary motto is SERVICE ABOVE SELF.
ROTARY is the world's first service club and was founded by a lawyer in Chicago, named Paul Harris on February 23, 1905. He and three of his friends,
a merchant, a coal dealer, and a mining engineer made up the first club. Harris wished to recapture the friendly spirit he had felt among businesspeople in
the small town where he had grown up. The name "Rotary" was derived from the earlier practice of rotating meetings among member's offices. By the end
of 1905, the Rotary Club of Chicago had 30 members.
ROTARY is some 1.2 million service-minded men and women belonging to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 168 countries. Rotary is nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.
ROTARY meets weekly for fellowship and interesting, informative programs dealing with topics of local and global importance. Membership reflects a
wide cross-section of community representation.
ROTARIANS plan and carry out a remarkable variety of humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs that touch people's lives in their local communities and the world community.
ROTARY is The Rotary Foundation, which each year provides some US$90 million for international scholarships, cultural exchanges, and humanitarian
projects large and small that improve the quality of life for millions of people. Rotary is widely regarded as the world's largest private provider of international educational scholarships. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and others who share its vision of a better world. Since 1947, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.1 billion in humanitarian and educational grants, which are initiated and administered by local Rotary clubs and districts.
The main objective of Rotary is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. They also support
programs for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational and career
development.