Rotary learns about own charitable work

Jim and Dawn Tolman from Niles Rotary spoke Nov. 13 at the meeting of the Rotary Club of Austintown. Jim is district chairman for the Rotary Foundation, and mentioned the many ways that local, district, and international projects are benefited by it. Each Rotary member is encouraged to donate $100 or more a year toward the foundation in 10 or fewer years, aiming at a goal of $1,000, to become a Paul Harris Fellow. The money given each year is held three years, then half of it is returned to the giving district, which disperses it for projects like the Group Study Exchange (Japan this year), Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships ($24, 000. this year), matching grants for international projects, and District Simplified Grants for local projects.

Tolman also mentioned the Polio Plus program, which has raised $190 million of its $200 million goal to meet the match of $355 million from the Bill Gates Foundation. This will hopefully end polio in the world, which is now 99 percent eradicated. Just four countries remain under threat of polio, but they are the toughest to reach because of internal problems and some children there requiring up to 18 doses compared to the normal three doses of the vaccine. The local district 6650 has donated $162,000 so far. The unique aspect of Rotary fund donations is that they are not handled through governments or religious groups, but directlty by Rotarians in the countries involved.