Twelve members of the Rotary Club of Fayetteville recently were named Paul Harris Fellows by the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Carol Colon, Hector Colon, Darrell Cutts, Al Dapkus, Tony Fritz, Al Gilbert, Phil McMullin, Paul Oddo, Brenda Schachle, Teresa Thaxton, Brenda Whitlock, and Marion Wells were presented their fellowship awards by 2007-2008 District 6900 Governor Bill Woulfin. Member Al Gilbert honored longtime resident Frances Reeves with his third Paul Harris Fellowship.

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The Foundation was created in 1917 by Rotary International’s sixth president, Arch C. Klumph, as an endowment fund for Rotary “to do good in the world”. It has grown from an initial contribution of $26.50 to more than $133.1 million, contributed in the year ended 30 June 2007. Its event-filled history is a story of Rotarians learning the value of service to humanity.

The Paul Harris Fellowship is name for Paul Harris, who founded Rotary with three business associates in Chicago in 1905. The Fellowship was established in his honor in 1957 to express appreciation for significant monetary contributions to the humanitarian and educational programs of the Rotary Foundation.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of Rotary’s first century has been Polio Plus. The PolioPlus program provides funding for mass immunization campaigns as well as support for social mobilization, surveillance, and laboratories to help carry out the final stages of global polio eradication. Rotarians have raised funds that amount to more than $650 million in support and provided hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours. Rotary is a spearheading partner with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the initiative to eradicate polio worldwide. As a result of their efforts, two billion children under age five have received the polio vaccine, five million people who might otherwise be paralyzed are walking today, 500,000 new cases of polio are prevented each year, and the number of polio cases has declined by 99 percent worldwide.

Rotary International, the world’s first service club organization, is made up of nearly 33,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Its members form a global network of business and professional leaders who volunteer their time and talents to serve their communities and the world. For those who want to learn more abut Rotary and its activities visit www.rotaryfayettevillega.com or www.rotary.org. Meetings are every Monday from 12:15-1:15 pm at Baci Italian Cuisine Restaurant.

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