When Rotary was established by Paul Harris and three others, each person came from a different walk of life. This diversity is a cornerstone of Rotary. The intent is to have a cross-section of business and professional experiences in your community.
For decades Rotary International listed a range of professional “classifications” and restricted how many representatives of each could be in a club. This ensures that each club reflects the community in which it serves. It also reminds us to not have one profession as a dominant voice in our club. Over time, these restrictions have pretty much given way, but your classification continues to be of great interest to your fellow club members. That’s why your Rotary badge carries your name and your classification.
Classification talks help us learn about the life experiences and professional backgrounds of new members.
THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR INTENTS FOR GIVING: Every two years we ask people to consider their Rotary involvement through the support of three key Rotary functions: (1) The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund, or SHARE. After using your funds for investments for three years, 47.5% comes back to our district as money for District Grants and Global Grants, and (2) Polio Plus, an ongoing worldwide effort to rid the world of this killer disease, and (3) our own area Rotary Works Foundation, initially founded as our own club’s foundation, and later enlarged as a foundation for the nine Coulee Region clubs. Here are some answers to questions posed to me:
HOW CREDIBLE ARE THESE FUNDS? The Rotary Foundation (Annual Fund and Polio Plus) have received the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator for 17 years in a row.
WHAT’S THE OVERHEAD COST? The Rotary Foundation (Annual Fund and Polio Plus) has a 5% overhead, considered relatively low by industry standards.
IF I WANT TO MAKE A CHECK OUT FOR ANY OF THESE THREE FUNDS, HOW DO I DO IT? Just write the check out to “Rotary Club of La Crosse” with clear instructions where to designate your funds.
HOW DO I GET A PAUL HARRIS AWARD? Any gift of any amount to Rotary’s Annual Fund or Polio Plus gets credited to you, and when it accumulates to $1,000, over whatever amount of time it takes, you will be honored with a Paul Harris Award. However, to be clear, gifts to our local Rotary Works Foundation do not bring you any Paul Harris credit.
I HEARD YOU TALK ABOUT POINTS. PLEASE EXPLAIN: Each dollar credited toward your Paul Harris Award gets a matching point. So with a $1,000 Paul Harris Award, you would have 1,000 points. You can give honorary Paul Harris awards to deserving individuals by designating your points toward their award. Niki will help you fill out the paperwork for any award you gift.
HOW DO I FIND OUT HOW MANY POINTS I HAVE? Open you own account at “MyRotary.org". Then, under your account information at the top right, you will find your financial information, including point totals. By the way, if you have been given an honorary Paul Harris Award, you do not receive any points or financial credit for that award since it was money or points generated by someone else.
WHEN SHOULD THIS GIVING FORM BE RETURNED? Please respond by our Holiday Meeting on December 18th.
Do you have any young musicians in your life who might be looking to miss a little school and enjoy a steak dinner? We are seeking K-12 grade musicians to perform for annual Winter Wonderland Youth Talent Showcase, Dec. 18.
They can perform anything they already have prepared, or a seasonal selection. Please reach out to me (katie.berkedal@emplifyhealth.org) to register your young musician(s) to perform.
Please also be sure to RSVP to Niki for this popular club favorite as space does fill up fast!
Rotary After Hours is gearing up fast for our largest even of the year, the Ugly Sweater 5k next weekend! We are still looking for some volunteers to help out on race day Saturday 12/6 and the clean up of the course on Sunday 12/7. CLICK HERE to volunteer if you can.
FOUNDATION MINUTE: DECEMBER 1, 2025.
Happy Thanksgiving to Rotarians from the United States and Welcome all to Week
ONE of RI’s Month of Disease Prevention & Treatment. TRF and Disease Prevention: Quick Facts:
400 million people worldwide can’t afford, or don’t have access to basic health care Treating and preventing disease is so important to Rotary Our members combat diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and polio. Prevention is important, which is why we also focus on health education and bringing people routine hearing, vision, and dental care. We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases. Rotary members have hundreds of health projects underway around the world at any given time. $65 million in grants was given by The Rotary Foundation to fight disease. 99.9% reduction in polio cases since our program started in 1985. Providing clean water: Rotary has worked with partners to provide more than 80 percent of Ghana’s people with clean water to fight Guinea worm disease. Reducing HIV infection: In Liberia, Rotary members are helping women get tested for HIV early in their pregnancies. They used prenatal care to reduce new HIV infections in children by 95 percent over two years. Ending polio: Rotary members have played a key role in bringing the world to the brink of polio eradication. Their efforts have not only ended polio in 122 countries but also created a system for tackling a myriad other health priorities, such as Ebola.
