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. In
more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians
belong to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs.
Rotary
club membership represents
a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and
women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, non
religious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.
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. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.
Although
Rotary clubs develop autonomous service programs, all Rotarians worldwide
are united in a campaign for the global eradication of polio. In the
1980s, Rotarians raised US$240 million to immunize the children of the
world; by 2005, Rotary's centenary year and the target date for the certification
of a polio-free world, the PolioPlus program
will have contributed US$500 million to this cause. In addition, Rotary
has provided an army of volunteers to promote and assist at national
immunization days in polio-endemic countries around the world.
The Rotary Foundation of
Rotary International is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes world
understanding through international humanitarian service programs and
educational and cultural exchanges. 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 US$1.1 billion
in humanitarian and educational grants, which are initiated and administered
by local Rotary clubs and districts.