Are you under age 30 and wondering how to make a positive difference in your community? Rotary International might provide you the service opportunities you’re looking for. With a number of different programs for young people, Rotary offers students and young adults the chance to join an established organization while impacting their hometowns. Take a look at some of the opportunities Rotary provides for young people: Rotary Youth Exchange offers students a chance to spend up to a year abroad with a host family, learning about different cultures and academic subjects while attending school. Rotaract...

We’re almost to the middle of April, so today we’re featuring District Governor John Cox’s April newsletter. This month, DG John talks about Rotary’s Magazine Month, remembers two dedicated District 5110 Rotarians, provides information about the upcoming District Conference and more. The photo at right is the District Conference logo. If you haven’t already signed up, read DG John’s newsletter to learn more about the conference and then register at the conference registration page.

Courtesy of Rotary International Students attend class at a baking school near the Padre Fransisco Da Motta school in Brazil. The baking school is funded by a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant. The bread will later be taken to a local community.

Photo courtesy of Rotary International A ten-year-old from Eugene, Oregon recently took polio eradication into his own hands by raising $1,640 for Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge. The Rotary International challenge is an effort to eradicate polio in four countries where the polio-virus is endemic: India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Ian Schwartz is a fourth grader at St. Paul Parish School. Instead of receiving gifts for his birthday, he asked his friends to donate money for the charity. Ian was inspired to raise money for the charity after he saw an illustrated history of polio in...

Australian Rotarians journey 11,200 miles (18,000 kilometers) around Australia to raise awareness of Rotary, Australian Rotary Health and the need for mental illness research funds.  The seven-month ride is the longest organized bike ride in Australia’s history. The Great Australian Bike Ride is sponsored by Australian Rotary Health, which raises money and provides grants to medical and mental health research projects. Over 100 participants, who will ride one or more of the nine stages of the course, departed from Melbourne on March 21 and will ride counterclockwise, stopping in the capital...

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Foundation is teaming up with Rotary International to promote early childhood reading.  The Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library program provides children with an age-appropriate book every month until the child is five.  Rotary clubs in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. are being encourage to support the program. “I am thrilled about our partnership with Rotary International,” says Parton, who developed a personal love of books growing up in rural Tennessee, where she saw firsthand the toll illiteracy can take on families. “Rotarians love...

Assistant Professor Gabriela Martinez and Professor Lynn Stephen Lane County has quite a rich history that many residents are unaware of. More specifically, Lane County’s racial and ethnic past. Lane County has not always been the home to European settlers, other ethnic groups made Lane County their homes far before that. To help celebrate Oregon’s 150th birthday, Assistant Professor Gabriela Martinez and Professor Lynn Stephen of the UO’s anthropology department partnered with the Lane County Historical Museum to create an exhibit and documentary featuring the underrepresented Latino...

After receiving close to a half  million dollars from family friends and Oregon-based Angel Investors for her start-up Web site, Caroline Cummings has learned the importance of extra help and being an entrepreneur. Cummings has plenty of experience in the realm of entrepreneurship. She is the co-founder of Smart-ups, an entrepreneurial support group in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is a local chapter of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) based in Portland, OR. Now Cummings is giving back even more by assisting with the Willamette Angel Conference, an investors conference connecting...

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $255 million challenge grant to Rotary International in the global effort to eradicate polio, bringing the total committed by Rotary and the Gates Foundation to $555 million. The donation will go toward the four countries where the polio-virus is endemic: India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. “Rotarians, government leaders, and health professionals have made a phenomenal commitment to get us to a point at which polio afflicts only a small number of the world’s children,” Gates said. “However, complete elimination of the poliovirus...

Today marks the 104th birthday of the Rotary, and clubs across America are celebrating. What started as one man’s wish to capture the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth in Chicago in 1905 turned into an  international philanthropic effort. Clubs around the world are doing an extra special something to celebrate this momentous day. District 7720 (North Carolina, USA) has big plans for celebrating Rotary’s anniversary, 23 February, this year. All 45 clubs in the district have committed to carrying out a service project, ranging from reading in schools to...