This is the month where Rotary puts a focus on giving to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund. Philanthropy is a personal choice. So why give to the Rotary Foundation?
As a Rotarian, we are part of the largest volunteer service organization in the world. In a 2019 study done by Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society, they estimated that Rotary volunteers contribute approximately 47 million hours of service annually, which is worth an estimated $850 million per year if communities had to pay for that service. When we give to the Rotary Foundation, those dollars help to fuel those service projects that we provide.
When you donate to the Annual Fund-SHARE, that money is invested over three years and half of that comes back to our district and can be used by our district to match club and district projects. The other half goes to the Foundation's World Fund to be used to match Global Grants. What that means is that we, as Rotarians, get to decide how that money is used to fund projects that have an impact in our communities and around the world!
This year, our District 5650 received a little over $50,000 in District designated funds (DDF) that enabled us to provide a 1.25X match to fund 27 service projects in our communities. Those projects translated to over $142,000 of support and impact in our communities.
In addition, our clubs and the district currently have nine active global grants and we are sponsoring two global scholars attending school in France. We have also welcomed a global scholar from Japan who is attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha this year.
As you can see, our donations are making a big difference with the impact we are having in our communities from our 37 clubs in District 5650. Please consider a donation to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund in November as we promote the Rotary Foundation Month campaign. This will allow us to continue to provide service to our communities and show the world the impact that Rotary continues to have.
Tom Kerfoot
Rotary District 5650 Foundation Chair
(402) 960-0306