BRATTLEBORO — Rotary International, along with its various clubs throughout the world, has established January as Rotary Awareness Month.
“A lot of people don't know what Rotary International does,” said Brattleboro Rotary Club president Liz Harrison. “We want to get the word out.”
One of the biggest focuses of the organization is working to eliminate polio. The club has worked closely with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation in this effort.
“We pretty much have polio eliminated except for two or three countries,” Harrison said.
Rotary International has been working to raise $200 million to match $355 million in grants from the Gates Foundation by June 2012. This will provide $555 million to combat polio worldwide.
So far, Rotary has raised $170 million towards the goal. This includes $8,500 contributed by the Brattleboro Rotary Club and the Sunrise Rotary Club through their joint Indian Film and Food Festival in 2009.
Still, polio isn't the only focus of Rotary International.
The International organization has also focused on literacy and clean water. Club members have gone to various areas of the world to help map out well locations and to help provide water filters.
In fact, the roots of Pure Water for the World (PWW) began in Brattleboro itself in 1994 when Peter Abell, a member of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, volunteered to go to a small Salvadoran village to provide medical services.
Abell was moved by the poor living conditions and vowed to make a difference and do something. With the support of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, Abell decided to help the people by providing rural villages with potable water. The success and interest of the club's activities soon outgrew the capacity of the Rotary Club. As a result, Pure Water for the World, Inc. was set up as a 501(c)(3) organization to carry out this important humanitarian effort.
Pure Water for the World works in remote regions of developing countries that lack sustainable clean, safe drinking water. PWW works with local governments and community partners to select, analyze the appropriate technology for the community, and to implement cost effective projects.
For the past two years, the Brattleboro Rotary Club has held two Mexican Film and Food Festivals to benefit Casita Linda (which means “pretty little house"), a Mexican nonprofit organization that builds adobe brick homes for families in San Miguel de Allende and the surrounding areas in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. This effort has raised enough money to build two homes.
At the local level, members help charitable ventures when they arise.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club uses funds raised from its annual Christmas tree sales and other efforts primarily for area high school scholarships. Eight $3,000 scholarships totaling $24,000 are awarded each year to students from Brattleboro Union High School and the Career Center, Hinsdale High School, and Leland & Gray Union High School.
In addition, the club supports a number of projects in the community, both large and small with cash and in-kind work. For instance, following Tropical Storm Irene, the club helped rebuild the Boys & Girls Club, including the provision of a new basketball court.
The club also raises funds by way of its annual Golf Tournament. Net proceeds from the tournament will benefit the new West River Park being built on Route 30 in Brattleboro.
“We help pretty much any nonprofit organization that needs it,” Harrison said.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club has 85 members and the Sunrise Rotary Club has over 45 members. She said Rotarian members throughout the world follow the same four-way test. The questions addressed by the test include: Is it the truth, fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Harrison said people have to be invited into the club, and someone must vouch for them.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club, founded in 1950, has weekly meetings at 12:15 p.m. on Thursdays at VFW Post 1034, 40 Black Mountain Rd.
The Sunrise Rotary Club, founded in 1995, has weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 7:15 a.m. at American Legion Post 5, 32 Linden St.
If you are interested in learning more about Rotary or attending a meeting, visit the Sunrise Rotary Club Web site at www.brattleborosunriserotary.org or the Brattleboro Rotary Club Web site at www.brattlebororotaryclub.org.