Kentucky Rotary District 6740 

What is Rotary?

There is an Interest Form at the bottom of this information sheet.

What is Rotary?

“Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”

 Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;

FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

 Rotary Milestones

1905				First Rotary club organized in Chicago, Illinois, USA
1908				Second club formed in San Francisco, California, USA
1910				First Rotary convention held in Chicago
1912				The Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, becomes the first club outside the United States to be officially chartered. (The club was formed in 1910.)
1917				Endowment fund, forerunner of The Rotary Foundation, established
1932				4-Way Test formulated by Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylo
1945				Forty-nine Rotarians help draft United Nations Charter in San Francisco
1947				Rotary founder Paul Harris dies; first 18 Rotary Foundation scholarships granted
1962				First Interact club formed in Melbourne, Florida, USA
1965				Rotary Foundation launches Matching Grants and Group Study Exchange programs
1978				RI's largest convention, with 39,834 registrants, held in Tokyo
1985				Rotary announces PolioPlus program to immunize all the children of the world against polio
1989				Council on Legislation opens Rotary membership to women worldwide; Rotary clubs chartered in Budapest, Hungary, and Warsaw, Poland, for first time in almost 50 years
1990				Rotary Club of Moscow chartered first club in Soviet Union
1990-91				Preserve Planet Earth program inspires some 2,000 Rotary-sponsored environmental projects
1994				Western Hemisphere declared polio-free
1999				Rotary Centers for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution established
2000				Western Pacific declared polio-free
2001				30,000th Rotary club chartered
2002				Europe declared polio-free; first class of 70 Rotary Peace Scholars begin study
2003				Rotarians raise more than US$118 million to support the final stages of polio eradication
2004				RI’s largest convention with 45,381 attendees, held in Osaka, Japan
2005				Rotary celebrates its centennial birthday in Chicago.

Five Avenues of Service - Overview

The Object of Rotary is to “encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise.”  Rotary is a service organization.  Since 1910, the Rotary Motto has been “Service Above Self.”

 Rotary strives to achieve it’s objective of “Service Above Self” through activities in five primary areas. These area are often referred to as the Five Avenues of Service.

 Club Service

This “Avenue” promotes the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.  It involves the activities necessary to make the Club function successfully and achieve its goals.

 Vocational Service

This area represents the opportunity that each Rotarian has to represent the dignity and utility of one’s vocation as an opportunity to serve society.  Rotarians promote and foster high ethical standards in business and professions and promote the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations.

Community Service

This “Avenue” relates to the activities that Rotarians undertake to improve the quality of life in their community.  Particular emphasis is given to helping children, needy families, the aged, the handicapped, and those most in need of assistance.  Rotarians strive to promote the ideal of service in their personal, business, and community lives.

International Service

In this area, Rotarians strive for the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.  International Service Projects are designed to meet the humanitarian needs of people in many lands, with particular emphasis on the most underprivileged children and families in developing countries.

Youth Service

This relates to the activities that Rotarians undertake to improve the quality of life in their communities Youth.  Particular emphasis is given to helping children, needy families, and those most in need of assistance.  Rotarians strive to promote the ideal of service in their personal, business, and community lives.  This is the newest area of Service and has been split out of the Community Service Area and given full Director status to Emphasize that while "Mankind is our business ... children are our bottom line!".

Some Quotes from Rotary Leaders

“Nothing is more momentous to a people than their concep­tion of goodness. It is as true of nations as of individuals that as they think in their hearts so are they. Those who mold a nation's thoughts and shape its ideals hold its destiny in their keeping.”

Paul P. Harris, Message to 1918 Rotary Convention, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Believe in What You Do - Do What You Believe In

"To strengthen our belief that only with an open mind, an open heart, open eyes, and open hands we will reach the highest quality of life, we need to be accompanied by like-minded friends in an atmosphere of good humor, serenity, and spontaneous practical day-to-day humanity.

That's what I found in Rotary. That's why I am a Rotarian."

Robert Barth

President, Rotary International, 1993-94, Rotary Club of Aarau , Switzerland .