Family Health Days provides screenings and immunizations to thousands, supported in part by The Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund, and the Rotary Action Group for Family Health and AIDS Prevention, along with other world health partners

It’s hard for me to believe I am writing the kickoff article for our Foundation for the third year and my last year as the foundation chair! As a District, we have accomplished so much in the last year and I’m looking forward to working with you all once again this year.

As many of you know, I do spend a lot of time working on the Polio side of what we do as Rotarians, but don’t think for a moment I don’t throw myself into the Annual Funding side also. Both Polio and the Annual Fund are very much a part of Foundation giving. My later article is this newsletter focuses on Polio, so let's turn our attention here to what is referred to in Rotary as “The Annual Fund (AF).” If you are a newer Rotarian, you may not be familiar with what piece parts make up AF. So let me spend a bit of time here to fill you in.

Rotary International defines AF as, “the primary source of funds that supports the Rotary Foundation’s programs and areas of focus." Dollars contributed to the Annual Fund are invested for a three-year period before they are in essence, returned to the clubs for use primarily in Grant requests. The main purpose of the investment for the three-year period is to generate earnings to meet the Foundation’s operating expenses. Once the three-year period is up, 50% the dollars contributed come back to the individual clubs in the form of District Designated Funds (DDF) and they are broken two forms of Grants, Local Grants and Global Grants. District Grants can use up to half of the funding for local community projects and short-term activities. The rest of the DDF funding is designated to Global Grants, which are generally large-scale international projects. However, they might also be used for vocational training or scholarships.

The remaining portion of the funding that is not allocated to DDF funding will go toward The World fund. Within this funding bucket are initiatives such as PolioPlus to eradicate Polio, Rotary Peace Centers and programs that provide necessities such as clean water. Our District continues to give 20% to PolioPlus. The applications are endless and always highly impactful. I’ll cover a host of topics over the course of this year in this space, so tune back in next month, but for now keep looking for the opportunities for Rotary to serve.

I’m very fortunate to be able to work with the most talented individuals in our district 6900. People such as Mike Mudd, who has been with me from the beginning when I became the District Foundation Chair. Our District has a team of people here to answer any questions you may have regarding any type of Foundation funding you might need help with.

So, if I can personally assist you in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via cell or email. Until next time, I’m here to help and together we will Create Lasting Impact!