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As you all know, the International Rotary Convention was just held this last week in Hamburg, Germany. I was fortunate enough to attend and was your delegate for the election portion of the convention.
Some important figures to note: is that The Rotary Foundation has raised 331.9 million dollars this fiscal year so far. That is an incredible number and speaks to the effectiveness of our organization. Although that is a very large amount of money, we need a little bit more in order to be able to get the 2 to 1 matching grant from the Gates Foundation.
ATLANTA, Ga. (June 12, 2017) – Today in Atlanta Rotary President John Germ and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a commitment of up to $450 million to support the eradication of polio.
To an audience of nearly 33,900 Rotary members attending the humanitarian organization’s annual convention, Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation renewed their longstanding support for ending polio – a paralyzing, life-altering scourge on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated. Rotary committed to raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. This expanded agreement will translate into $450 million for polio eradication activities, including immunization and surveillance over the next three years. This critical funding helps ensure countries around the world remain polio-free and that polio is ended in the remaining three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
If you have not yet contributed to The Rotary Foundation, please consider doing so by June 30. If you have already contributed, thank you very much. If you are in a position to get an additional donation in, please consider doing so by June 30.
Another amazing number to me was the number of volunteer hours tracked at the International level. Rotary members have put in 45 million volunteer hours this year for a total dollar amount of $850,000,000 worth of monetary value. I am so honored to be a part of this incredible organization.
The opening flag ceremony was wonderful and was delivered by many Exchange Students from all over the world. It is wonderful to think of all the countries that are represented by Rotary throughout the world.
I made new friends at the conference and everyone there was so friendly and welcoming. If you ever get the chance to go to an International convention, I would highly recommend it.
Chris Krueger
