Message from the chair
Building bridges through service
February 2010
On 23 February, Rotary will celebrate its 105th anniversary. On that day, we also mark World Understanding and Peace Day, for in Rotary, part of our mission is working for peace – not through military might, but through our humanitarian work. Rotarians understand very well that the causes of war and strife are often the same: poverty, inequality, deprivation, and a lack of hope.
Rotary works to restore that hope by bringing health, education, and the promise of a better future. We do this through the locally based club and district projects for which we are known, and through larger projects run internationally and with the support of our Rotary Foundation – projects that support schools, build wells, improve quality of life, and bring us ever closer to our goal of a polio-free world.
The years that we have been working together through PolioPlus have been years of steady determination, of lessons learned, of confidence built. Where government representatives and health organizations have been refused entry, Rotary has been allowed in, because our local service and our international reputation have earned us the trust of others. Through our work, we have helped build bridges of cooperation between governments and communities. With every one of those bridges, and with every drop of polio vaccine, we come closer to the better, healthier, and more peaceful world that we know is possible to build.
Glenn E. Estess Sr.
Foundation Trustee Chair
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