In July 2021 after severe rainstorms created major mudslides outside Guadalajara, Mexico, a small group of volunteers rushed to get clothing, food, soap and other health supplies to those who had been forced out of their homes.
Later that same year, a group of volunteers created a fashion show in Tunisia which featured a dozen young women with amputations, burns, a range of disabilities and other medical conditions on the red carpet in custom-made garments. It was an experience that helped participants feel normal and beautiful, and for some, it was a dream come true.
After the discovery of the children’s graves in Kamloops, British Columbia, a group of volunteers erected and filled a mini library in their neighborhood with books by, and about, Indigenous peoples.
In Peru in Jan 2023, volunteers funded a new addition for a shelter housing vulnerable girls abandoned by their families, who were victims of abuse, or in need of psychological help.
Apart from all being volunteers what did they have in common?
They were all Rotarians.
And these are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of voluntary acts by Rotarians occurring every day in countries all over the world.
People from every walk of life
Rotary is arguably the largest volunteer organization in the world, with over 1.4 million members in 35,000 clubs in approximately 190 countries and has been nominated several times for a Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, much of the world knows little of the impact of Rotary volunteering.
Volunteering activities can be small or all-consuming and range from: making phone calls of support to other members with health challenges, organizing community fundraising events, planting trees to participating on boards and committees, reading to blind people, delivering food to shut-ins, running a speaking competition and hosting an international exchange student.
There are also larger efforts such as building schools in the developing world or creating movements, such as Canada’s Honouring Indigenous Peoples (HIP). Rotary’s largest and most ambitious initiative is its Polio Plus campaign, launched in 1985 to eradicate polio. Thousands of Rotary members have worked to raise over $3 billion and more than 3 billion children have received the oral vaccine. Rotary’s partners, the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation, will always receive more publicity, but Rotary has been the driving force behind this initiative. The results have been astounding. polio infections are down from over 350,000 annually in 1988 to about 30 today. Thanks to this success, the Rotary polio slogan to eradicate this debilitating disease is “We are Soooo Close… ”
Rotary’s “four way test”
In all we think and do …
• Is it the Truth
• Is it Fair for all concerned
• Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships
• Will it be Beneficial for all concerned.
One of the founding members of the United Nations, Rotary’s seven avenues of service cover our world — disease prevention, water and sanitation, maternal and USA, basic education and literacy, community economic development, environment, and peace building — which has led to occasional arguments that Rotary is involved in too much. This very diversity, however, provides an opportunity for almost anyone to become involved and volunteer in a cause that interests them.
Networking
In some respects, Rotary is also the world’s largest networking organization, with a club in virtually every community of size, and most of its members key players in their community. A Rotarian can — and they regularly do — drop into a meeting almost anywhere in the world, either personally or virtually, and connect with local influencers. This has been especially true during the war in the Ukraine, leading to a huge amount of international collaboration.
Rotarians will almost always speak of the friends they have made, the experiences they have had, and the skills they have gained. This includes public speaking, leadership experience and project management all while doing something useful and “giving back.” As a result, forward-thinking organizations have come to understand the importance of having people in their company in Rotary. They make things happen.
A growing and diverse membership
Rotary was long-viewed as an old white man’s organization, but no more. Over one in four members are now women and the 2022/2023 President of Rotary International was Jennifer Jones, from Windsor, Ontario, Rotary’s first female President. In the past two years, one Canadian rotary club reported that over 60% of their new members are first- or second-generation Canadians from non-Western countries. Rotary is determined to be in the forefront of the push for equity in our world.
For young persons who want to change the world, Rotary offers its Interact for Secondary School students and Rotaract for those under the age of 30. Of course, much of what Rotary does could also be applied to other service organizations such as Lions or Kiwanis. Every organization is looking for people who want to become engaged and create hope in the world.
Chris Snyder is the author of several books and several hundred articles on personal finance, Chris’ most recent book "Creating Opportunities-A Volunteer's Memoir" describes a lifetime of volunteer experiences, much of it as an active member of the Rotary Club of Toronto and on many not-for-profit boards. Chris is past chair of the Canadian Landmine Foundation, founding chair/current chair of HIP (Honouring Indigenous Peoples) and the Trudeau Centre of Peace, Conflict and Justice. He is the recipient of many community service awards, including the Paul Harris Fellowship Award, the Queen's Gold and Diamond Jubilee Awards, the Rotary Service-Above-Self Award and the Governor General's Sovereign Award for Volunteering. His latest book, “52+Good News Stories—Hope in a Complex World” will be published by Civil Sector Press in early 2025.
