On Tuesday September 28, 2021, Past District Governor, Jerry Chapman, talked to us about the Rotary Foundation, of which he is now our District 5870’s Chairperson.
His interesting talk explained how the Rotary Foundation helps Rotary International meet its goals and improve conditions throughout the world.
The Rotary Foundation was begun over 100 years ago in 1917 when Arch Klumph, from the Cleveland Club, had an idea to create an Endowment fund dedicated to “Doing Good in the World.” Through our Foundation, Rotary members have supported thousands of projects to provide clean water, fight disease, promote peace, provide basic education, and grow local economies. We’ve also been a leader in the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. The infrastructure developed worldwide to fight polio, has also helped in the worldwide fights to eliminate other dangerous endemics such as SARS, Ebola, and now Covid.
Rotary’s six Service Areas are:
Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
Disease prevention and treatment
Water and sanitation
Maternal and child health
Basic education and literacy
Economic and community development
Better health, sanitation, and education help our fellow humans rise above their conditions and improve their lives and the lives of those around them. Desperate conditions can provide a ripe recruitment ground for radical ideas and insurgencies. Better living conditions help make it more difficult to radicalize local populations which helps with peaceful initiatives worldwide.
Marble Falls Daybreak members support the Rotary Foundation through our dues structure, where each member donates each year, allowing us to achieve EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) status. One-hundred percent of donations is used for charitable purposes. This is achieved by investing donations for three years -- which funds the entirety of Fund administration -- and then every dollar is available for charitable use.
Rotary District grants are funded by The Rotary Foundation solely with allocations from the District Designated Fund (DDF), which delivers the monies annually to each District. A district may apply for a single grant each Rotary year to support one or more projects using up to 50 percent of its SHARE allocation, which represents 50 percent of its annual giving from the previous three years plus any Endowment-SHARE earnings.
So basically, the money from clubs is invested in the Endowment Fund for three years, then clubs can apply to get their portions back for projects in the form of these Grants for local projects.
In these ways, we not only support improving our local communities, but also the entire World!
Marble Falls Daybreak has used our annual DAP Grants to fund local projects, deserving charities, and public entities. Some examples of our projects include:
Provided Audio-Visual equipment for Marble Falls High School,
Provided Computers and a printer for a Women’s sober living facility, Open Door Recovery House,
Provided Computers for a Men’s sober living facility, His Joshua House,
Built a Gaga Ball Pit for the Marble Falls Boys and Girls Club,
Built a tether ball for the Marble Falls Boys and Girls Club,
Provided a Track Timing System for the Marble Falls High School Track Events,
Cleaned up the grounds around the Historic Marble Falls Jail and planted new foliage.
Read more about the Rotary Foundation and its grants here: The Rotary Foundation | Rotary International.