Volunteers sort and label boxes of medical donations at a warehouse around O’Hare airport in February 2022 for airlift to Ukraine. By Pat Merryweather-Arges, 2023-24 RI Vice President and a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville, Illinois, USA — I met Dr. Olha Paliychuk shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As…
By Maurizio Mantovani, endowment/major gift advisor Maurizio Mantovani It was a special day for The Rotary Foundation in Italy on 1 July 2024. At the launch, all incoming governors were recognized as Major Donors. This remarkable achievement was the culmination of an extraordinary two-year period, during which there was a 53% increase in the number…
Manouchehr Shamsrizi holding a quantum sensor at Germany’s Ferdinand-Braun-Institute, December 2024. By Manouchehr Shamsrizi, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley As a longtime member of Rotaract in Germany and now as a member of the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, I have consistently witnessed the profound impact of scientific and technological advancements and their translation into…
Members of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland get a tour of the building that Feed Windsor-Essex will use to provide hot soup to the homeless and food insecure. By Mander Matharu, president, Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada There is something wholesome and satisfying to the soul about a hot bowl of soup and a…
Members of the Rotary Club of Jeju Hana help stray dogs stay warm in winter By Hyunjoo Lee, Rotary Club of Jeju Hana Winters in Korea, particularly on its islands, are made harsher by strong winds that make subzero temperatures feel even more biting. Jeju Island, famously known as “Samdado” (the Island of Three Abundances:…
Ben Lewin By Ben Lewin My relationship with our movie project, Sylvia and the President, goes beyond the professional. It is deeply personal. I was one of the ‘polio generation’ who contracted the virus in the early 1950s, just before the advent of the Salk vaccine. My body was 80% affected in the acute stage,…
Emanuelle and Sabrina Barreto are both very active with Rotary Youth Exchange. Their May blog post is one of our favorite of the year. By Arnie Grahl, blog editor One of the best things about managing and editing our blog is that I get to read so many great stories from Rotary members. Truly committed…
Food floating in space from a story in the December Rotary magazine. For an example of how to use the element of surprise to draw people through your stories, see the excerpt below. By Etelka Lehoczky There’s a secret to crafting inspiring, exciting Rotary stories, one that will help you overcome the main challenge facing…
Carol Chang by the Action Plan sign in the House of Friendship. By Carol Chang If you don’t know what to do, try something! The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Young International Managers Training Program seeks to cultivate and develop the leadership skills of young people, as well as provide opportunities for participants to engage…
By Emi Chemat Emi Chemat and her sister Tish (left). My sister, Tish Abiera-Reyes, caught polio as a toddler. My mum and her went to a celebration in Manila and she caught it there. She wasn’t the only one – a lot of her friends caught it too – at the same party. I can…