Ft. Worth, Texas October 11, 2016
Rotary Clubs of District 5790 will host the annual Rotary Foundation Gala Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, 1300 Houston St., from 6 to 10 pm, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation.
This year’s theme for the Foundation Gala is “The Power of One” and the keynote speaker will be 2016-2018 Rotary International Director Dean Rohrs.
The Foundation is the $1 billion charitable arm of Rotary International. To mark the centennial, Rotary’s goal is to raise $300 million by July 2017 for its campaign to eradicate polio and for service in communities around the world.
Sixty-Nine Rotary Clubs from district 5790 have held various service projects, participated in fundraisers, and have made contributions to help raise the funds needed to make this year’s campaign successful. The gala will be attended by almost 400 Rotary members and spouse guests.
Established in 1917 with a donation of $26.50, The Rotary Foundation is dedicated to advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace. Through grants and other resources, Rotary members develop sustainable projects that promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, support education, save mothers and children, and grow local economies.
Rotary’s top priority is the global eradication of polio. Rotary launched its polio immunization program, Polio Plus, in 1985 and in 1988 became a leading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative along with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and more recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rotary has contributed more than $1.5 billion and countless volunteer hours to eradicate polio. Through 2018, every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, up to $35 million a year. Since the initiative began, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to less than 71 confirmed in 2015.
