Rotary District Foundation Chair – November 11, 2014

The Rotary Club of Thibodaux was honored to have Greg Landry speak to us about the Rotary Foundation. Greg is a member of the Lafayette-North Rotary Club and has served as club president, assistant governor and governor.
The Rotary Foundation was established by Rotary International to give away money and grants for various activities. One-Hundred percent of the money donated is held for three years and then given away. There are many ways for a Rotarian to donate, but the easiest way is online. The goal of our district Rotary organization is to have each member donate $100 per year to the foundation. A donation of $100 makes the donor a sustaining member. A cumulative donation of $1,000 makes the donor a Paul Harris fellow.

The following Thibodaux Rotarians were awarded their first Paul Harris pins:

Sheard Ber
Ron Bourgeois
Jay Griffin
Claudio Guillermo
Larry Howell

In addition, Lainey Barrilleaux was awarded a Paul Harris +1 stone and Jennifer Ledet was awarded a Paul Harris +3 stone.
Sandy and Skipper Holloway were acknowledged as Major Donors. Greg Landry informed us that the Thibodaux club had donated $153,000 since the inception of the foundation. If every member in our district was a sustaining member, the district would be donating $243,000 to the foundation, of which, half is returned to the district in the form of grants.
The Rotary Foundation has three main areas of focused. The first one is Polio Plus which is an effort that was start in the nineteen eighties to eradicate polio. There are now only three countries in the world that have polio and the fight continues. The second area of focus is establishing Peace Centers around the world to train individuals in peace and conflict resolution. There are six peace centers around the world. The final area of focus is global and district grants.
Greg Landry encouraged all Rotarians to donate to the Rotary Foundation where the money is put to good use.