Rotary has been able to complete more projects than ever before because of the service and support from Rotarians and Rotaractors.

Article by PDG Dennis Shore - Endowment / Major Gifts Adviser

Irrespective of your faith, your religious or personal beliefs, Christmas in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania also serves in many ways as our Thanksgiving Day. It is vacation time for many and it is the time when families make that extra effort to be together. More local and international borders have opened up to enable family and friends to gather together after two years of uncertainty. This is still not the case for everybody but it is wonderful for many families to once again be together and be appreciative that we live in countries where we all have a lot to be thankful for, even with COVID.

Rotarians share their time and talent and many share their treasure. Through your service and support, Rotary members have completed more projects than ever before. Rotarians have made lives better in their community and around the world. Through The Rotary Foundation they have been able to leverage their club and personal contributions to truly do good in the world.

The Rotary Foundation thanks the Rotarians and Rotaractors (and indeed also many friends of Rotary) who have helped to make a difference to someone less fortunate than themselves. At Christmas, as we focus on family and friends, it is easy to forget that for some it is a time that only serves to highlight how challenging their circumstances are. 

Recently the annual report for The Rotary Foundation was published and it made for fascinating reading. More and more Rotarians and Rotary clubs have come to understand the impact of Foundation projects and the demand to do good in the world through Foundation projects is growing significantly year on year. To meet this increasing demand, Rotarians are stepping up and making it happen. In 2020-21 total outright contributions of almost US $355 million exceeded expectations, remarkable in this time of global crisis. Individuals accounted for 75% of those contributions across The Foundation’s four funds and The Rotary Foundation thanks you for your gift that makes this possible.

These contributions and those from previous years enabled 2066 Global Grants, with a value of US $130 million, to be funded. This compared with 1359 Global Grants with a value of US $95.6 million in the previous year. 467 Districts also received US $ 31 million in funding for District Grants and for the first time a program of scale was approved for US $2 million. PolioPlus funding was maintained at over US $150 million.

Thank you again from The Rotary Foundation and we look forward to your continuing support now and into the future. Every best wish to you and your loved ones for a happy and peaceful Christmas and a positive New Year.

Thank you Debbie Vance for your complimentary graphics. Debbie's gift to promote Rotary's amazing network of volunteers.