• Membership Chair: Larry Herman
• Annual Giving - Fred Sadoff
• Polio Plus - Mark Huard
• Group Study Exchange – Joe Roth
• Educational Grants, Scholarships World Peace Fellow / Matching Grants/District Simplified Grants – Larry Herman
• Alumni – Steve Press
• Youth Exchange Students, Friendship Exchange - Joe Altschul
  

Rotary Youth Exchange Program

For more information on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program – Please click here

Group Study Exchange

• Cultural and Vocational Exchange for business people between 25 and 40 in early stages of careers.
• Program provides travel grant for teams to exchange visits in paired areas
• 4-6 week experience of the host country’s culture and institutions and vocations and idea exchange.

Educational Grants, Scholarships World Peace Fellow / Matching Grants/District Simplified Grants

• Matching Grants-works with the International service projects leader to apply for humanitarian project by August 15
• District Simplified Grants-Grants cut in budget so need to apply early for local humanitarian endeavors (Harvest Drive?)
• Goal to get an Ambassadorial Scholarship or a World Peace Fellowship

Rotary Foundation Alumni

Develop a program to keep in touch with the GSE alumni, and our youth exchange alumni-Perhaps incorporate something within our web site.If you are a Rotary Foundation Alumni, former Ambassadorial Scholar, Group Study Exchange Team Member or another beneficiary of Rotary Foundation Programs living in our area of greater Weston, please e-mail org so that we can invite you to our events that include our Alumni Event.

The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.

To eradicate polio, Rotarians have mobilized by the hundreds of thousands. They’re working to ensure that children are immunized against this crippling disease and that surveillance is strong despite the poor infrastructure, extreme poverty, and civil strife of many countries. Since the PolioPlus program’s inception in 1985, more than two billion children have received the oral polio vaccine.

Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge is the Rotary Foundation's response to the two grants totaling $355 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help eradicate polio. Every dollar given to PolioPlus will be counted toward the $200 million match, which must be completed by 30 June 2012.

• Disaster Recovery - Allows Rotarians to donate money in response to specific disasters. Funds are distributed to local committees to support recovery efforts. The program was created in 2005-06, and the Foundation currently administers four Disaster Recovery accounts: Hurricanes Stan and Wilma (Guatemala and Mexico), Hurricane Wilma (United States), the Earthquake in India and Pakistan, and Solidarity in South Asia. Total contributions to the accounts were $6.4 million.
• District Simplified Grants – These are grants that are funded by the Foundation. These grants are at the district level and support the service activities of districts locally and abroad.
• Health, Hunger And Humanity (3-H) Grants – These grants Fund large-scale, two- to four-year projects that improve health, alleviate hunger, or promote human development throughout the world.
• Matching Grants – Matching grants provide matching funds for international service projects of Rotary clubs and districts.

Ambassadorial Scholarships – The Foundation sponsors one of the largest international scholarship programs in the world. Scholars study in a different country, where they serve as unofficial ambassadors of goodwill. Since 1947, more than 47,000 scholars from 110 countries have received scholarships of more than $476 million through The Rotary Foundation. Rotarians in District 6990 have supported THESE SCHOLARSHIPS for many years and have continually sponsored scholars to countries such as Australia, Brazil, England, Italy, Japan, Scotland, Spain, South Africa and Venezuela.

While abroad, scholars serve as ambassadors of goodwill to the people of their host countries and give presentations about their homelands to Rotary clubs and other groups. Upon returning home, scholars share with Rotarians and others their experiences that led to greater understanding of their host countries.

The scholarships have a value of $22,000 for one year. To qualify a candidate must have a minimum of two full years at a college or university. The candidate must be a permanent resident of District 6990 and cannot be a child or grandchild of a Rotarian. The candidate must be able to speak, read and write the language in which the curriculum is taught at the proposed study institution. Annually, District 6990 funds 2-3 such scholarships.

Group Study Exchange (GSE) – Annual grants are made to paired Rotary districts to cover travel expenses for a team of non-Rotarians from a variety of professions Teams of young professionals from the local community between the ages of 25 and 40, led by a Rotarian, are assembled and provided a travel grant to a foreign country.. Rotarian hosts organize a four- to six-week itinerary of vocational, educational, and cultural points of interest. In a typical four-week tour, the teams participate in five full days of vocational visits, 15 to 20 club presentations, 10 to 15 formal visits and social events, two to three days at the host district’s conference, three to four hours per day of cultural and site tours, and three to four hours per day of free time with host families.

Since 1965, more than 57,000 individuals (almost 12,000 teams) from 100 countries have participated at a cost of more than $92 million.

Rotary Peace Fellowships - Each year, up to 110 scholars are sponsored to study at one of the seven Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution for a master’s-level degree. Building the leaders of tomorrow Strengthening the leaders of today.

General Eligibility: Interested candidates must apply for Rotary Peace Fellowships through their local Rotary club. Use the Club Locator to find Rotary club contact information. If your hometown doesn’t have a Rotary club, try entering the names of nearby cities. You also can try searching for Rotary club websites. If you have difficulty finding or contacting a Rotary club in your area, contact Rotary Peace Centers staff for assistance.

Eligibility criteria:

• A strong commitment to international understanding and peace demonstrated through professional and academic achievements and personal and community service activities.
• A bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience as a minimum, with strong academic achievement
  A minimum of three years’ combined paid or unpaid full-time relevant work experience (master’s degree) or five years’ relevant work experience with current full-time employment in a mid- to upper-level position (professional development certificate).
• Proficiency in a second language (master’s degree) or in English (professional development certificate).
• Strong leadership skills.
• Individuals applying immediately after obtaining an undergraduate degree are generally not strong candidates for Rotary Peace Fellowships. People with disabilities and members of Rotaract clubs are eligible and encouraged to apply.
• Individuals who previously participated in the Ambassadorial Scholarships program, or were Peace Fellows in the professional development program at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, are required to wait a minimum of three full years before applying for a master's degree fellowship.
• Individuals who participated in the Rotary Peace Centers master's degree program are not eligible for the professional development program at Chulalongkorn University.
• The following people are ineligible for master’s degree Rotary Peace Fellowships but may apply for the professional development certificate on an exception basis:

Active and honorary Rotarians: Employees of a Rotary club, RI district, Rotary International, or other Rotary entity
Spouses, lineal descendants (children or grandchildren by blood or legal adoption), spouses of lineal descendants, or ancestors (parents or grandparents by blood) of any living person in the categories above
Former Rotarians and their relatives as described above (within 36 months of resignation)

Club level: Individual Rotary clubs initially screen and select fellowship applications to forward to the district level for competition. Club deadlines may be as early as March for Rotary Peace Fellowships and vary by club district deadlines.

For over 75 years, students and host families have broadened their horizons through Rotary Youth Exchange. More than 80 countries and over 8,000 students each year participate in the program, which is administered at the regional level by Rotary districts and at the local level by Rotary clubs.

A commitment to youth: Weston Rotary maintains a strong connection to youth and young adults and sponsors student in bound and also out bonds annually. Besides Youth Exchange, Rotary clubs sponsor youth service clubs such as Interact, Rotaract, and RYLA and offer career development and mentoring programs.

For more information on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program – Please click here

The Rotary Foundation offers several ways to recognize Rotarians and friends for their generous support.

Naming opportunities
A named gift is an outright contribution to Annual Programs Fund that provides immediate funding for a program. One hundred percent of the gift is spent on a designated program in that given year.

Sustaining Member
Anyone who contributes US$100 or more per year to the Annual Programs Fund is automatically recognized as a Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member.

Sustaining Members are critical to the Foundation. If every club member contributed $100 every year, Rotary could nearly double its efforts to help needy people worldwide and support the continued growth of its programs.

All gifts cumulatively count toward other Foundation recognition programs.

Benefactor
You may become a Benefactor by making the Permanent Fund a beneficiary in your estate plans or by donating $1,000 or more to the fund outright.

Bequest Society
Couples or individuals who have made commitments of $10,000 or more in their estate plans, such as in a will, living trust, or through whole or universal life insurance, can become Bequest Society members. All Bequest Society members receive recognition from the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation. Donors may elect to receive an engraved crystal recognition piece and a Bequest Society pin. You must ask to become a Bequest Society member by filling out a form.

Paul Harris Fellow
Donors of US$1,000 or more to the Annual Programs Fund, PolioPlus, or the Humanitarian Grants Program, or people who have that amount contributed in their name, can be recognized as Paul Harris Fellows.

Major Donor
The Rotary Foundation recognizes couples or individuals whose combined personal outright or cumulative giving has reached $10,000. All outright contributions made to the Foundation are included in this total, regardless of the gift designation.

Donors may elect to receive a crystal recognition piece and a Major Donor lapel pin or pendant. Recognition items commemorate giving at each recognition level:

• Level Six $1 million or greater
• Level Five $500,000
• Level Four $100,000
• Level Three $50,000
• Level Two $25,000
• Level One $10,000

Arch C. Klumph Society
Donors whose cumulative gifts total $250,000 or more will become members of the Arch C. Klumph Society and have their photos displayed permanently in the Arch C. Klumph Gallery at RI headquarters.

The Rotary Foundation will:

• Send receipts and letters of appreciation for all gifts.
• Honor requests for privacy (if a donor wishes to remain anonymous, the Foundation must be notified when the gift is made).
• Subtract the fair market value of recognition items from receipts when required to do so by U.S. law.
• Acknowledge major gift pledges at their full value when written documentation and an initial gift payment are received.