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Rotary Club of Pakenham Inc
Some magnificent projects grow from very small seeds.
The Rotary Foundation had that sort of modest beginning.
In 1917 RI President Arch Klumph told the delegates to the Atlanta Convention that it "seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the World". The response was polite and favorable, but the fund was slow to materialize.
A year later the "Rotary Endowment Fund" as it was first labeled received its 1st contribution of US$26,50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, being the balance from the Kansas City Convention account.
Following the 1918 annual meeting, additional small sums were annually contributed but after 6 years it is
reported that the endowment fund had only reached
US$700.00.
The Rotary Foundation was formally established at the 1928 Minneapolis Convention. In the next 4 years the foundation fund grew to US$500000.
In 1937 a US$2million goal was announced for the Rotary Foundation, but these plans were cut short and abandoned by the outbreak of World War 2.
In 1947 upon the death of Paul Harris a new era opened for the Foundation as memorial gifts poured in to honour the founder of Rotary. In 1965 the first US$1 million was received annually.
It is staggering to think that from those humble beginnings the Rotary Foundation is now allocating some
US$90million each year for educational and humanitarian work around the world.
