Foundation announces goals for 2009-10

By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News
22 January 2009

The year ahead will be a pivotal time for The Rotary Foundation, as it embarks on a second century of Rotary service, and faces the changes coming in the Future Vision Plan.

Foundation Trustee Chair-elect Glenn E. Estess Sr. implored Rotarians, and specifically the incoming district governors gathered for the International Assembly, to rise and meet the challenge, to keep Rotary's promises for generations to come.

"In Rotary, we can do good in so many ways because there are over 1.2 million of us," Estess said during a plenary session on Wednesday. "We can do good in so many places because we are in over 200 countries and geographical areas. And we can do so much good that changes the world because we have the strength of our Rotary Foundation behind us."

The 2009-10 Foundation goals are:
1. Keep the promise to eradicate polio.
2. Work through the Foundation to achieve a better world, through the six areas of focus in the Future Vision Plan.
3. Implement the Future Vision Plan, which will help revitalize and strengthen the Foundation so it can adequately support another century of Rotary service.
4. Support Every Rotarian, Every Year and the Permanent Fund.
In rolling out the Foundation’s goals for 2009-10, Estess said the No. 1 priority remains the promise to eradicate polio.

"The race to finish polio has been a long race, more of a marathon than a sprint," he said. "But in any race, when you get to the end, when you see that finish line up ahead -- still a little ways up the road, but well in sight -- it is always natural to want to run a little faster and a little harder."

Estess noted that the six areas of focus in the Future Vision Plan echo the priorities set by RI President-elect John Kenny in his RI theme and emphases. "They are areas in which Rotary service has been the most effective and had the greatest impact in past years and decades," Estess said, "and where we should be focusing our efforts in the years and decades to come."

"We try to do the most good we can, wherever we are, with what we have," he said. "And that is why our Rotary Foundation has a simple motto: Doing Good in the World."