Week of Nov. 3 - 9, 2008

By Dr. Larry Hashimoto
President 2008-09
Redondo Beach Rotary club

(REDONDO BEACH, Calif.) -- The month of November is "The Rotary Foundation Month". The mission of The Rotary 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.

The Rotary Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who shares its vision of a better world.

The Foundation was started by RI's sixth president Arch C. Klumph in 1917 as an "endowment fund for Rotary..... for the purpose of doing good in the world...." It's first contribution was from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri for $26.50. In 1928, when the endowment fund grew to more the $5,000, the fund was renamed The Rotary Foundation. Today, the Foundation receives contributions annually in excess of $100 million!

The fundraising efforts fall into two main categories, the Annual Programs Fund and the Permanent Fund. The Permanent Fund is Rotary's endowment whose principal is never spent and the interest earnings are used to fund programs. The Annual Program Fund is where our contributions from our District go and is used for educational and humanitarian programs. The PolioPlus Fund was created in the 1980's as a separate fund to eradicate polio worldwide.

What makes The Rotary Foundation unique is the three-year funding cycle. In any given year, monies contributed from our District are invested for three years before being spent on programs. This ensures all contributions from our District are used for programs, and only some or all investment earnings, depending on investment performance during those three years, are used to pay administrative costs.

Out of all our contributions from our District, half comes back to us as District Designated Funds or DDF, and the other half goes to the Foundation as the World Fund or WF. Therefore, all the money contributed is used for programs, half for our District and half for the world.

The Rotary Foundation is a wonderful efficient vehicle to help make the world a better place to live. Let's all continue to support our Foundation. Thank you for your support. -- Larry