|
We all came into Rotary because we wanted to join with others in service and make a difference. Similarly, when Rotary teams up with like-minded organizations to work toward our shared goals, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish. Partnerships amplify our impact.
Leading through partnerships is nothing new for Rotary: We helped spearhead the formation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Later, when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joined the cause, we gained a long-term fundraising and technical partner in the fight against polio. Through our partnership and the 2-to-1 fundraising match agreement with the Gates Foundation, Rotary generates $150 million annually to end polio. We are proud that they are a part of the effort to end this disease.
Many people may not know that our work with the Gates Foundation and our other partners doesn’t end with polio but includes other disease-prevention efforts. The Rotary Foundation has joined with the Gates Foundation and World Vision U.S. to co-fund a Rotary member-led program to help eliminate malaria in Zambia. Based on past partnership and future collaboration around this effort, each co-funder is contributing $2 million for the Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia program, the first recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Programs of Scale grant.
This level of impact can also be seen in collaborations across our other areas of focus. Rotary partners with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on major initiatives at a national scale. The Rotary-USAID WASH partnership has helped communities and governments in countries such as Uganda and Ghana provide safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, impacting hundreds of thousands of lives. We are also teaming up with USAID to help fight COVID-19 and its long-term financial and social impact in Italy. Meanwhile, the Hearts of Europe program, which is funded jointly by USAID and Rotary, assists communities in Eastern Europe through global grants.
Proving our value as a trusted partner often spurs multiple mutual projects. Through the Power of Nutrition initiative, we are partnering with our polio eradication partner UNICEF and the Eleanor Crook Foundation to tackle undernutrition during early childhood.
The Rotary Foundation is far too great to keep to ourselves. Let’s make sure to let the Foundation’s light shine bright. In doing so, we will find new partners, gain new supporters, and increase the good we’re all doing in the world...
JOHN F. GERM
Foundation trustee chair