by Dick Nitsch, photos by Jerry Juckem-
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The Foundation is the primary
way in which we are involved
in the fourth Avenue of Service:
International Service.
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The program chair for the day was Jim Lester and the program presenter was Jim Lester. Jim made it quite clear that the purpose of his presentation was to get more Rotary members to contribute to the Rotary Foundation. Jim began his presentation by describing the Rotary Foundation as the philanthropic arm of the Rotary. He explained that there are two components to the foundation. They are the fund raising component and the paying for the philanthropic projects around the world. Jim also shared some Two Rivers Rotary statistics including; (1) our club has given over $55,000 to the foundation, (2) over 1/3 of our members have given over $1,000 making them Paul Harris Fellows, (3) almost ½ of our members contribute annually to the Foundation, and (4) last year members contributed $2,850 to the Foundation. The District goal asks each Rotary member to give $100 per year to the Rotary Foundation; which would come to $3,700 per year. Jim informed our club that we need to increase our giving to the Foundation by $850 to reach that goal. That would mean 4 people contributing $50 per quarter or 8 people contributing $25 per quarter. Jim showed a movie that explained and gave examples of the six types of projects the Foundation supports. Those projects include: the Ambassador Scholarships, the Group Study Exchange, the Center for International Peace, The Humanitarian Grants, the Matching Grants For Club Projects, and the Polio Plus Project. Jim explained that when he first became involved with the Foundation, he thought most of the contributions came from the United States. This is not true. Most of the contributions come from other countries; who seem to be more aware and sensitive to the needs of the disadvantaged people. Jim concluded with a final plea to those who are not currently contributing to the Foundation; asking them to consider making a quarterly pledge at the Annual Fund Pledge page or by contacting Jim Lester.
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