Foundation Committee
The Foundation Committee of Rotary Central Melbourne works to ensure the club meets the Rotary constitutional obligation for all Rotary clubs to support the work of the Rotary Foundation.
The mission of the Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through improvements in health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty.
The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation, who share its vision of a better world. Following the naming of The Rotary Foundation by Charity Navigator as one of only a handful of charities having a perfect score in their rating system, the American Society of Professional Fundraisers has awarded The Rotary Foundation with the highest score for 13 consecutive years (December 2020).
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
Through the Foundation, Rotary is dedicated to seven areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.
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Promoting peace Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas. |
Fighting disease We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas. |
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Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term. |
Saving mothers and children Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger. |
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Supporting education More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. |
Growing local economies We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities. |
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Protecting the environment We support activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. |
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The Humanitarian Grants Program provides grants to Rotary clubs to implement humanitarian projects. Over the years, Rotary Central Melbourne has utilised funds available through the Humanitarian Grants Program to meet international community needs such as the construction of a rice mill in Bangladesh and the installation of water tanks in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea and in West New Britain, renovation of schools in Laos, water filtration system in India. We have also utilised community grants locally including the funding of scholarships of hope for returning young people into schooling.
PolioPlus is Rotary's most recognised program - its goal is to eradicate polio. Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for over 30 years, and our goal of ridding the earth of this disease is in sight. We started in 1979 with vaccinations for 6 million children in the Philippines. In 2020, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic.
The Rotary Central Melbourne Foundation Committee promotes the ideals and programs of the Rotary Foundation within the club. In particular, each year it conducts a major fundraising event – the Paul Harris Breakfast, in honour of Rotary's founder, Paul Harris. Friends, family, colleagues and representatives of all the clubs in District 9800 are invited to participate in the event, at which recipients of Paul Harris Recognitions are acknowledged for their special contributions to Rotary and its programs. Each year, a keynote speaker is invited to speak at the breakfast. This person is generally someone well recognised in the community. All funds raised at the Paul Harris Breakfast are used for Foundation programs.