Rotary in Italy

ROTARY TODAY

There are currently some 480 Rotary clubs with nearly 30,000 members in Italy. They share with some 5,800 European Rotary clubs with approximately 255,000 members and more than 1.1 million Rotarians in approximately 25,000 clubs worldwide the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self." Rotary's purpose is to serve others through efforts to improve the community, to promote high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance international understanding and good will.

ROTARY HISTORY

Rotary was founded in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., in 1905. Madrid, Spain, became the site of the first Rotary club in Continental Europe, in 1921. In Italy, the first Rotary club was founded in Milan in 1923, followed by Trieste in 1924, and in 1925 by clubs in Torino, Naples, Rome, Palermo, Genoa, Venice and Florence. A Rotary club was established in San Marino in 1960. During World War II, European clubs were disbanded, except for those in Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The disbanded clubs were reorganized after the war, except for those in ten countries in Eastern Europe.

ROTARY IN ACTION

Each Rotary club determines its own projects and activities to meet local circumstances and needs. Groups of clubs may cosponsor a project at regional or, occasionally, national levels. Internationally, clubs in another land on various projects as well as support and participate in the programs of The Rotary Foundation. In addition, Rotarians are urged to be active as individuals in social service and civic activities of their own choosing.

EXAMPLES OF ROTARY PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

SERVICE TO THE DISABLED is provided by many Rotary clubs in Italy. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Milan‑Nord donated an electrocardiograph to a local hospital. The Rotary Club of Catania‑Nord initiated and conducted instruction seminars for a local cardiopulmonary resuscitation volunteer squad. Rotary District 206 organizes the Handicamp Italia, an all‑expense‑paid camp for 15 to 20 physically handicapped Europeans ages 17 to 23.

SERVICE TO YOUTH is provided by Italian Rotarians in several ways. Italian Rotary clubs sponsor Interact and Rotaract clubs for young persons 14‑18 and 18‑29, respectively. Each of the more than 325 clubs sponsors at least one service project annually. The Rotaract Club of Genova Nord published a directory of social services to assist elderly persons in the community. The informational guide was distributed free as part of the club's "youth for the old" campaign.

In addition, Rotary clubs in Italy participate in the international exchange of about 250 secondary school aged youth for a school year or holiday. Italian Rotarians are also concerned about drug abuse and are cooperating with the Doxa Institute to combat the problem. They also joined with Spanish and French Rotarians, along with other European service organizations, to form the European Federation of Drug Abuse Prevention Associations, also called "Europe Fights Drugs," to combat drug abuse.

Activities that promote INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING are also popular with Italian Rotarians. Rotary clubs in Italy sponsor The Galileo Galilei Award, given annually to honor a non‑Italian scholar who has made significant contributions to the study of Italian culture. Rotary clubs in Caltagirone, Modica, Noto‑Terra de Eloro, Ragusa, Siracusa and Vittoria have provided an aqueduct and reservoir, as well as medical equipment and supplies, for a health clinic in Cimpunda, Zaire. The Rotary clubs of Verona and Peshiera del Garda donated a Jeep to a hospital in Wamba, Kenya, for medical transport in remote areas. And the Rotary Club of Novara ‑‑ in cooperation with other clubs in its district and the Rotary Club of Nairobi, Kenya ‑‑ matched a Special Grant from The Rotary Foundation to help equip a health center in Sololo, Kenya, with eye surgery and first aid equipment and materials.

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION is actively supported by Italian Rotarians, who have contributed more than 6 billion lire (U.S.$4.6 million) to the Foundation, which has spent more than 2.8 billion lire (U.S.$206 million) since 1947 on its programs to further international understanding. During that period, the Foundation has awarded more than 19,800 scholarships for a year's study abroad, including 225 for young people from Italy. Under the Foundation's Group Study Exchange program, teams of non‑Rotarian business and professional people are exchanged by Rotary districts in different countries for a period of four to six weeks to increase their understanding and appreciation of other social, economic, and cultural conditions. Since 1965, 48 Group Study Exchange teams have traveled to and from Italy. Italian Rotary clubs have provided extensive support for Rotary's PolioPlus Program to eradicate polio worldwide by the year 2000, and to help control other vaccine‑preventable diseases. Italian Rotarians have raised 4.3 billion lire (U.S.$3.2 million) toward this effort.

The Rotaract clubs of Milano San Babila and of Como organized a gala dinner to raise funds for the PolioPlus Program, typical of Italian Rotaract fund‑raising efforts over the past few years.