The Rotary Foundation
The Rotary International Foundation is the charitable arm of Rotary International. Donations to the Foundation help to support Rotary’s work throughout the world and ensure this work can continue into the future.
The mission of The Rotary International Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Funds are distributed from the Foundation in the form of district and global grants.
District Grants
District grants fund smaller short-term projects and activities that address community needs. The Rotary Club of Uxbridge has received district funds to purchase computers for the Uxbridge Youth Centre. In November 2013 we received two district grants to help support the worthy endeavors of Africycle in Malawi (www.africycle.org). One grant provided funds to complete the construction of a maize mill, which will help Grace Orphan Care (founded and sponsored by Africycle) to become self-sustainable. Another grant provided funds to purchase 20 bicycles through Shine African Children’s Trust – the bicycles were given to orphaned children (often losing both parents to HIV / AIDS) who have become the head of their households and bear the responsibility of raising their younger siblings. The bicycles provide a valuable mode of transportation which can make the critical difference in their daily struggle to meet the family’s basic needs for survival.
Global Grants
Global grants support large international projects with measurable outcomes in specified areas of focus, thus empowering Rotarians to approach the most significant global challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition with sustainable solutions that leave a lasting impact.
The Foundation also funds various programs including PolioPlus. Polio eradication is Rotary’s top philanthropic priority. When Rotary launched this program in 1985, there were more than 350,000 polio cases in over 125 countries. Rotary has contributed more than US$1 billion to the global eradication effort and helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children. Reported polio cases have dropped by 99 percent, and polio now remains endemic in only three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan); in October 2015 Nigeria was removed from this list, making the African continent free of polio. As long as one case of polio remains, no child is safe from this disease. While the last 1 percent of cases are the most difficult to prevent, as the virus lingers in some of the hardest to reach areas in the world, Rotary is persistent and together with its global partners, Rotary will continue its efforts until the world is polio-free. For more about polio eradication visit www.endpolio.org.