BRATTLEBORO — Rotary International, along with its clubs worldwide, has established January as Rotary Awareness Month.
“A lot of people don't know what Rotary International does,” says Sandy Rouse, Brattleboro Rotary Club president. “We want to get the word out.”
The international organization is determined to help stamp out polio, and to that end works closely with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation.
“We pretty much have polio eliminated except for two or three countries,” Rouse said.
Indeed, Rotary International and the Gates Foundation have provided nearly $600 million to combat polio worldwide. Rouse said 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.
The international service organization also focuses on expanding literacy and the availability of clean water. Club members travel the world to help map out well locations and provide water filters.
In fact, Rouse said in a press release, the roots of Pure Water for the World - which is dedicated to improving the health of children, families, and communities in the developing world by providing them with sustainable water solutions, sanitation, and hygiene education - began in Brattleboro in 1994 when dentist Peter Abell, a member of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, volunteered to visit a small Salvadoran village to provide medical services.
Abell was moved by the poor living conditions he saw - and vowed to make a difference.
With the support of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, Abell decided to help the people there 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, PWW (www.purewaterfortheworld.org) was established.
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. It is a secular organization open to all persons regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference.
Locally, each year the Brattleboro Rotary Club holds an International Film and Food Festival to benefit an international cause. On March 2, the club's sixth Annual Native American Film and Food Festival will raise awareness and funds for KILI Radio, a non-profit radio station broadcasting to the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, and Rosebud Indian Reservations.
Members here seem driven to support charitable ventures:
The Brattleboro Rotary Club uses funds raised from its annual Christmas tree sales and other efforts primarily for area high school scholarships. More than $500,000 in scholarships has been awarded over the past 25 years.
This year, the club is offering $18,000 to graduating seniors from Brattleboro Union High School, Windham Region Career Center, Hinsdale High School, and Leland & Gray Union High School.
The club supports a number of projects in the community, both large and small, with cash and in-kind work. For example, Rotary recently built and installed two wheelchair ramps: one for a new mobile home in Glen Park and one at Hilltop House.
The club also raises funds by way of its annual golf tournament. This year, net proceeds from the tournament will benefit a local youth sports organization and the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital's new emergency department.
“We help pretty much any nonprofit organization that needs it,” Rouse said.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club boasts 80 members. The Sunrise Rotary Club claims ranks more than 45 strong. Rouse said Rotarians throughout the world follow the same “four-way test”: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it benefit all concerned?
Rouse said people have to be invited into the club, and an established member must vouch for them.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club, founded in 1950, has weekly meetings Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. at the VFW Post, 40 Black Mountain Rd., in Brattleboro.
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., Brattleboro.