Rotary International
TO THE EDITOR:
Rotarians quietly work with purpose and passion within their communities, contributing funds and volunteer hours through projects like the Texarkana Rotary Flag Project (raising over $1 million since July 4, 2000). One club gives dictionaries annually to every 3rd-grade student in Texarkana, Ashdown and Bloomberg, supports Harvest Food Bank, RYLA, Teacher and Peace Officer’s Banquets annually, Stuff the Bus, Opportunities Inc., Toys for Tots, Angel Tree, Splash Pad, our Rotary Foundation and many others. The Wilbur Smith Rotary Club has provided community service for a century and is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary April 4, 2017.
There are four Rotary Clubs in Texarkana meeting in the evening, a breakfast club and two clubs which meet at noon. There is a time available for anyone truly wishing to make a difference within their community to join Rotary. There are 1,207,913 Rotarians throughout the world, 35,399 clubs in 534 districts in 160 countries. We represent a fraction of 1% of all humanity on this planet earth. Our numbers are small but our humanitarian work is legendary.
Our global project is the eradication of polio worldwide. This officially started in
1985 with approximately 350,000 cases annually. Only 37 cases were reported in 2016. After 32 years of commitment, only ONE case so far in 2017. With the aid of several world organizations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, over $1.3 billion has been raised for this effort. What a gift Rotary and its partners are giving the children of the world.
The heart of Rotary is the Rotary Foundation. The soul of Rotary is the commitment of each Rotarian member.
Every single dollar donated to the Rotary Foundation funds a humanitarian project. Charity Navigator scores us Four Stars with a 97.87 grade. The Association of Fundraising Professionals recognized the Rotary Foundation as their 2016 Foundation of the Year. Few foundations in the world can offer this assurance of money management to their contributors.
Why would anyone not wish to be associated with our philosophy of “Service above Self” by doing so much good throughout the world? The power, reach, peace, service and goodwill offered by Rotarians of the world is magical. It is an honor to be called a Rotarian. If anyone is interested in joining us please contact Fay J. Durrant @ 903-278-8800 or bagman1236@aol.com. We’ll find a club to match your time constraints and talents if you qualify.
Join us in recognizing and congratulating the Wilbur Smith Rotary Club’s 100th year of “Service above Self” to our Texarkana Community along with all Rotarians of the world.
Wouldn’t you rather attempt something great and fail, than do nothing … and succeed? Fay J. Durrant Texarkana, Texas