1. The first Rotary Club was formed in 1905 when attorney Paul P. Harris called together a meeting of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago.
2. The four founder Rotarians (from left) were: Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram Shorey, and Paul P. Harris.
3. The founders called it “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.
4. The Rotarian motto “Service Above Self” means the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster high ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
5. There’s a secondary motto: "One profits most who serves best."
6. The first meeting was held in the Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. It no longer exists (was demolished in 1989).
7. In 1932, Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor created The Four-Way Test as a moral code for personal and business relationships. The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions: Of the things we think, say or do: - Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned? - Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? - Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
8. In 1929, the Foundation made its first gift of $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children.
10. There are 34,282 member clubs worldwide. 1.2 million individuals called Rotarians have joined these clubs.
11. Rotarians usually gather weekly for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to fulfill their first guiding principle to develop friendships as an opportunity for service.
12. Women currently account for 15% of international Rotary membership (22% in North America)
13. The most notable current global project, PolioPlus, is contributing to the global eradication of polio.
14. Rotary has 7 official languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. 15. You don’t have to be invited to join the Rotary! Click here and join us today! Cars2ndChance is a 501-3c California Registered Non-Profit organization. The Cars2ndChance program is operated by D&H Enterprises, a member of the Clayton Valley Concord Sunrise Rotary Club which was chartered in May 1987 and locally serves the Town of Clayton and the Clayton Valley area of Concord. The club is involved in many projects around the world but and has projects that are important in the local community as well. Sources: https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/learning-reference/about-rotary/history-rotary-international https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/learning-reference/about-rotary/history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_International
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