Rotary is an opportunity to build life long friendship and experience, the personal fulfillment of providing volunteer service to others.
An organisation of business and professional leaders, Rotary provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and builds goodwill and peace in the world.
The world's first service club, Rotary began with the formation of the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA on 23rd February 1905.
A young lawyer, Paul P. Harris, and three of his friends started the Club. They wished to capture the friendly spirit they had felt among business people in the small towns in which they had lived.
The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupations as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
It was founded by Paul P. Harris, a lawyer who gathered three of his friends, each in a different profession or line of business to form a club, which met in ‘rotation’ at their various places of business – hence the name “ Rotary”. This basis for membership- one person only from a profession or business – is being continued even today.
On Sunday the 19th of April 1868 was born the great visionary, Paul P. Harris, at Recine, Wisconsin, USA who went on to sow the seeds of Rotary movement on a cold wintry day at Chicago.
Paul had varied educational background- a bachelors degree in Physical Culture and L L B degree from the University of Iowa.
After various assignments, he settled down to Chicago as a lawyer in 1896. In July 1910 he married Jean Thomson, a Scottish girl and a co-member in Chicago Prairie Club.
The first Rotary Club was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris with Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant, Gustavus Loehr, a mining Engineer and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, to bring together business and professional men in friendship and fellowship. The first club meeting flagged off the formation of thousands of Rotary clubs which were later organized through out the world.
When he passed away on 27th January 1947, he left behind for mankind a rich legacy of fellowship and brother hood for international understanding and service to humanity.
Rotary’s touch stone of ethics for Rotarians in their business, community and personal life-the 4 way test conceived by a Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 is a simple but profound statement: -
RI World HQ is situated at 1, Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA, with regional Rotary International offices in various countries.
Rotary International is administered by a board of 16 Directors each elected for 2 years in addition to the Rotary International President and President Elect. The President of Rotary serves for 1 year only. The Rotary year begins on 1st July and ends on 30th June.
For administrative efficiency, the Rotary worlds have been formed in to various Rotary Districts. Each District is administered by a Rotary District Governor assisted by his/ her officers. There may be number of Rotary Clubs under a District.
It is a fund that came in to existence through contributions from various Clubs and Rotarians, making it unique since other wise such funds are usually created by rich philanthropic families or individuals. Rotary International funds several exchanges programmes between countries, like the group Study Exchange for working people, as well as various kinds of scholarships for students. The Pulse Polio programme aimed at eradicating polio from the world is an important recipient of Rotary funds. Rotary also has a Rotary Volunteer programme under which individuals can volunteer to serve on a community welfare project in various parts of the world. The matching grant scheme enables clubs that have raised money for a project along with a club in another country to claim a matching amount from Rotary International for the project.
Membership in a Rotary club is by invitation and is on the basis of one representative of each business and profession. This is called the Classification and this system ensures a wide cross section of community representation.
Clubs meet weekly for fellowship and interesting and informative programmes dealing with topics of local and global importance.
The real work of Rotary takes place at the committee meetings, where Rotarians plan variety of humanitarian and educational service projects that touch people’s lives.
Rotary extended to Asia in 1919 when the Rotary Club of Manila, Philippine and Calcutta were formed with Calcutta Club receiving its charter in 1920. In 1929 Bombay and Madras Clubs were chartered.
District 319 was formed on 1st July 1977, comprising of 1 revenue district of Andhra Pradesh and four revenue districts of Karnataka State. Rotary Club of Madras sponsored Rotary Club of Bangalore, the first club in our district then 319 in 1934. Rotary District 319 was reorganised as 3190 in 1991-92 with the jurisdiction of revenue districts of Tumkur, Mandya, Bangalore, Kolar of Karnataka and Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
