Today, February 23, marks the 117th anniversary of the global Rotary movement. Originating back in 1905 in Chicago, the first Rotary Club consisted of only four enthusiastic patrons representing 4 professional classes - lawyer Paul Harris, coal magnate Sylvester Schill, mine engineer Gustave Loer and tailor Hiram Shorey.
The Founding Fathers put at the forefront the idea of uniting the best businessmen and professionals in their field around the service of the interests of mankind.
Rotarians set out to improve the situation of people at the global level through their local actions – to help overcome hunger, disease, environmental disasters, lawlessness, poverty, literacy and social injustice.
The appeal of Rotarianism, as well as the leadership abilities of the founders, turned out to be very effective: the number of Clubs and communities began to grow exponentially, being interrupted only during the Second World War.
Today, there are about 1.5 million of us Rotarians in the world, united in more than 46 thousand clubs and communities. Rotary International is a full member of the United Nations. By the way, the founding conference of the United Nations in October 1945 was organized at the expense of rotarians.
Of the international NGOs, Rotary International is the only UN member with voting rights, a strategic partner of UNICEF and one of the sponsors of WHO.
For more than a century of history, Rotary has become a powerful center of global social responsibility, a network of networking, a movement of like-minded people in the name of global change, charity and the introduction of high ethics and social responsibility in business and economic behavior.
Rotary has two floors of service – local & global community service – that no changes will take root unless they are implemented from both the bottom and the top.
There is something to be proud of our Rotary Club of Almaty. For 27 years of our existence, we have implemented about a hundred socially useful and charitable projects to help people and organizations in need.
Among the recipients of Rotary care are hospitals, kindergartens, public structures, and foundations, and plans are planned to further expand the coverage of good deeds.