What is Rotary?

Rotary is an international organisation of service clubs, known as Rotary Clubs. It is a secular organisation open to all persons regardless of race, sex, color, creed or political preference.

Rotary was founded in 1905 by Paul P Harris, a Chicago lawyer, who wished to capture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. The Rotary name derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.

Rotary's popularity spread, and within a decade, clubs were chartered from San Francisco to New York to Winnipeg, Canada. By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents.

As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving club members' professional and social interests. Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need. The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its motto: SERVICE ABOVE SELF.

There are now more than 32,000 clubs and over 1.2 million members in some 170 countries.

What Does Rotary Do?

The purpose of Rotary is to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

Rotary is committed to addressing the critical issues of health, homelessness, literacy, education and disaster relief.

Rotary is NOT a charity and raises its funds by independent means, eg. a business enterprise such as local weekend markets.

Rotary's funds are devoted to community service and welfare programs and projects which it manages at an international, national or local level.

PolioPlus

PolioPlus is, perhaps, the best example of Rotary at work at the international level. It is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio.

For more than 20 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease. Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognised worldwide as a model of public-private cooperation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal.

Rotary's financial contributions to the global polio eradication effort will reach nearly US$1.2 billion by the time the world is certified polio-free: a time that is closely approaching.

The PolioPlus program helps Rotary fund operational costs, such as transportation, vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and training of health workers, and support surveillance activities.

Thousands of Rotarians around the world have also volunteered during National Immunization Days to immunize children.