About Rotary - What Is Rotary?

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Rotary world-wide

Some facts about Rotary International:

• There are 1.2 million Rotarians in more than 200 countries, numbering 33,000 clubs.

• Rotary observed its 100^th anniversary in 2005.

• Rotary International lunched a $120 million campaign in 1985 to eradicate polio in the world. Some $380 million was raised in 20 years – and the number of polio cases went from 350,000 to less than 1,600 today.
  
  

• In 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presented Rotary International with a $100 million matching fund grant, and then in 2009 it announced a new $255 million grant to hasten the eradication of polio in four countries where polio virus still remains endemic – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Rotary in Jefferson City

There are more than 275 Rotarians in Jefferson City, many long-time leaders in the community. Rotary has been a part of the Capital City since the 1920s.

There are four Rotary clubs in Jefferson City: Jefferson City Rotary (often called the Downtown Club), which meets at noon Mondays; the Jefferson City Evening Club, which meets Tuesday evenings; the Jefferson City Breakfast Club, which meets Wednesday mornings; and the Jefferson City West Club, which meets at noon on Fridays. There is also a Rotaract Club, with young professionals up to 30 years of age. For information on these clubs, go to www.JeffCityRotary.org.

One of Rotary’s best-known projects in Jefferson City is Rotary Centennial Park, located at the foot of the city’s first river bridge on Bolivar Street. Rotarians in partnership with the City Parks Department maintain the nearby grounds, park benches and picnic tables that overlook the Missouri River just west of the State Capitol building.

Education and youth are big benefactors of Rotary in Jefferson City. The JC West Club, for example, awards $1,000 per year college scholarship (up to four years) along with a $500 one-year Lincoln University scholarship. The Breakfast, Downtown and West clubs also honor high school seniors as Students of the Month.

All four clubs participate in Rotary’s Student Exchange Program, and also host international business professionals in its Group Study Exchange Program.

Find out more about Rotary by visiting the Rotary International web site.

Information on this page came from:

The About Rotary and the RI Programs pages on the Rotary International web site