IT'S FOUNDATION MONTH

There are as many reasons to support The Rotary Foundation as there are ways to do good in the world.

By donating to the 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. (click below to read more)

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 Matching 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

Watching civil war tear apart his homeland of Côte d'Ivoire instilled in Rotary Peace Fellow Kouame Remi Oussou a passion to resolve conflict.

He is now working for the United Nations Development Programme in the Central African Republic, a country that weathered periodic internal fighting before a comprehensive peace accord went into effect in 2007. Read more about Oussou.

Rotary Peace Fellows are leaders in promoting national and international cooperation, peace, and conflict resolution. Help support the Rotary Peace Centers and read a discussion of what the program has meant to a group of peace fellows. The efforts of Oussou and Rotary Peace Fellows advance the peace and conflict prevention/resolution area of focus.

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.

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.