Rotary Program 11/24/2004

Our guest speaker for the day was David Lusty representing the Rotary Foundation. He is a financial planner and president of David Lusty Financial Services. He was the youngest governor every elected for our Rotary district and Club President at Athens, Ohio.

The Rotary Foundation was started in 1917 by Arch Crump from Ohio. It's stated intent was "to do good in the world." The first donation of $26.50 from the Kansas City Rotary Club came in 1920. When Rotary founder Paul Harris died in 1947, one million dollars was given to the Foundation. In 1948, the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program started and became the largest scholarship program in the world. Group Study Exchange began in 1965. David reminded us that the Foundation exists because of Rotarians and their participation.

The David explained many of the specific programs within the Rotary Foundation. Group Study Exchange provides $11,000 travel grants for exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. Teams consist of four non-Rotarian young professionals and one Rotarian who leads the group. All Rotarians are eligible to apply as team leaders. The Ambassadorial Scholars program provides grants for students to study overseas for a year.

Rotary Centers for International Studies provides summer internships and research projects. These young people are expected to become our future diplomats. Up to seventy scholars are selected each year.

Grants for University Teachers provide either 3 to 5 month or 6-10 month teaching awards to teach in a developing country.

David also talked about Rotary's humanitarian programs which include Matching Grants, Individual Grants, and District Simplified Grants. In the Matching Grants program, clubs in two or more countries are paired for special projects. Over $180 million has been spent on 18,000 grants since 1965 in 115 different countries. The Individual Grants program can sponsor an individual grant recipient. The District Simplified Grants started two years ago and allows 20% district designated funds to come back to local club.

David ended his program by sharing photos and information about his recent trip to the Philippines. At the medical clinics they offered, as many as seven hundred people showed up. During their trip, they saw over 2,000 patients.

David emphasized that 100% of what we give to the Rotary Foundation is spent on programs. Every Rotarian is encouraged to give $100 every year for the Rotary Foundation.