Dixie Rotary Bowl | St. George, Utah

Wanting to recapture the friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth, the 37 year old attorney, Paul P Harris, formed the world’s first service club in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on Feb. 23, 1905. Harris envisioned a new kind of club for professionals that would kindle fellowship, camaraderie, and a chance to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances. However, little did Harris know that Rotary would become a world recognized organization well known of its dedication to service and international goodwill.

Rotary International is a non-political, non-religious humanitarian organization. It is made up of business and professional leaders who work to better their community and build understanding and peace in the world. There are approximately 32,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries and geographical areas; making up more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders.

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise. Rotary clubs encourage high ethical standards in business and professions while existing to improve communities locally and around the world. Each club’s projects address critical issues in communities around the glob. Some of the main focus areas are:

Polio Eradication — In 1985, Rotary’s members vowed to make the world Polio-free and have helped immunize two billion children throughout the world by countless hours of volunteer work and contributing US$500 million. Today, there are only a few hundred polio cases world wide, a 99.8% reduction since 1988, when polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children a year.

International Education — Each year, nearly 1,000 University students receive Rotary scholarships while also coordinating with the high school exchange program that sends nearly 8,000 students abroad for three months to a year.

Peace — Rotary s recently launched the Rotary centers for International studies for peace and conflict studies at 8 prestigious universities world wide. In an effort to educate tomorrow’s peace makers and ambassadors. The program provides maser’s level degree education in conflict resolution to a group of 70 Rotary world peace scholars whom are chosen annually in a world competitive selection process.

Literacy — The Rotary literacy program was adopted by the Thai Government for all the nations’ schools and has grammatically reduced school failure in illiteracy. Rotary clubs are very engaged in the fight against illiteracy worldwide.

Members of Rotary clubs are known as Rotarians. All of whom work together with the same vision and mission to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Rotary is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation wanting to better the world.

Although it has been over a hundred years since Harris and his colleges chartered Rotary International and many things have changed in the world since then there is one thing that is certain and that is the Rotarian dedication to service, world understanding and peace through local, national, and international humanitarian, educational, and cultural programs.