Congress Recognizes Rotary's 100 Years

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PROCLAMATION

Unanimously approved and read at the 109th U.S. Congress

WHEREAS, Rotary International, founded on February 23, 1905 in Chicago, Illinois USA, is the world's first and one of the largest non-profit service organizations; and

WHEREAS, there are over 1.2 million Rotary club members comprised of professional and business leaders in over 31,000 clubs in more than 165 countries; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary motto "Service Above Self" inspires members to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards, and promote good will and peace in the world; and

WHEREAS, Rotary funds club projects and sponsors volunteers with community expertise to provide medical supplies, health care, clean water, food production, job training, and education to millions in need, particularly in developing countries; and

WHEREAS, Rotary in 1985 launched Polio Plus and spearheaded efforts with the World Health Organization, U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF to immunize the children of the world against polio; and

WHEREAS, polio cases have dropped by 99 percent since 1988 and the world stands on the threshold of eradicating the disease; and

WHEREAS, Rotary is the world's largest privately-funded source of international scholarships and promotes international understanding through scholarships, exchange programs and humanitarian grants; and

WHEREAS, more than 35,000 students from 110 countries have studied abroad since 1947 as Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars; and

WHEREAS, Rotary's Group Study Exchange program has helped more than 46,000 young professionals explore their career fields in other countries; and

WHEREAS, 8,000 secondary-school students each year experience life in another country through Rotary's Youth Exchange Program; and

WHEREAS, there are over 387,000 Rotary club members in more than 7,700 clubs throughout the United States sponsoring service projects to address such critical issues as poverty, health, hunger, illiteracy, and the environment in their local communities, and abroad.

Therefore, we, the United States Senate/House of Representatives, do hereby proclaim February 23, 2005, as Rotary International Day and encourage all citizens to join us in recognizing Rotary International for 100 years of service to improving the human condition in local communities around the world.

Rotary Gets Credit For Polio Eradication

(As Sam Simpson mentioned at the April 14th, 2005 meeting, The Wall Street Journal of January 11, 2005 praised Rotary for its part in the effort to Eradicate Polio worldwide.  Printed below is the editorial in its entirety)

POLIO AND ROTARY

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine. Poliomyelitis, also known as infantile paralysis, used to be one of childhood's most feared diseases. A few years after Dr. Jonas Salk announced his vaccine on April 12, 1955, nearly every child in the U.S. was protected. Today polio has disappeared from the Americas, Europe and the Western Pacific and is nearly gone from the rest of the world.

A too-little known part of this feat is the role played by Rotary, the international business-man's club, which 20 years ago adopted the goal of wiping out the disease. Rotary understood that medical breakthroughs are worthless unless people aren't afraid to immunize their children and efficient delivery systems exist to get the vaccine to them. And so it mobilized its members in 30,100 clubs in 166 countries to make it happen.

In 1985, when Rotary launched its eradication program, there were an estimated 350,000 new cases of polio in 125 countries. Last year, 1,263 cases were reported. More than one million Rotary members have volunteered their time or donated money to immunize two billion children in 122 countries. In 1988, Rotary money and its example were the catalyst for a global eradication drive joined by the World Heath Organization , Unicef and the U.S. Centers for Disease control. In 2000 Rotary teamed up with the United Nations Foundation to raise $100 million in private money for the program. By the time the world is certified as polio-free- probably in 2008 - Rotary will have contributed $600 million to its eradication effort.

An economist of our acquaintance calls Rotary's effort the most successful private healthcare initiative ever. A vaccine-company CEO recently volunteered to us that the work of Rotary and the Gates Foundation, both private groups, has been more effective than any government in promoting vaccines to save lives. It's become fashionable in some quarters to deride civic volunteerism, but Rotary's unsung polio effort deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wall Street Journal