Paul Harris Fellow

Paul Harris Fellow


June 2005
If you don't have a connection with Rotary you may not know what it means to be a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF). To be named a PHF in The Smithfield Rotary Club usually indicates a special honor for recognizable community service, but more importantly it indicates that the person being honored has given, or someone has contributed in their name, a significant monetary contribution to The Rotary Foundation. In the case of my grandson the honor went not to a person of long and distinguishable community service but to a young achiever with aspirations worthy to become a service-oriented contributor to society. (image placeholder)
Liam had previously informed me that he wanted to become a Rotarian. Of course this pleased me very much. For it has been my opinion that while there are many people doing something for their communities there seems, to me at least, to be less evidence of service-mindedness in the younger workforce. Therefore, if I could make one impression on young people, among all the other responsibilities they have in family as well as their professions -- it is the importance of their responsibility to give something back to society as well.

Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary in 1905. The 2004-05 Rotary Foundations goal is $100 million US dollars ($100,000,000.00) -- all for Rotary's fourth objective: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service. Copied below is a brief synopsis about the foundation. To learn more about the foundation and what it does, click on any of the highlighted/underscored words.

Come to visit the Smithfield Rotary Club on any Monday evening at 6 PM, Johnston Memorial Medical Mall, Smithfield, NC.

About The Rotary Foundation
The Rotary Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.
The Foundation was created in 1917 by Rotary International's sixth president, Arch C. Klumph, as an endowment fund for Rotary "to do good in the world." It has grown from an initial contribution of US$26.50 to more than US$55 million contributed in 2002-03. Its event-filled history is a story of Rotarians learning the value of service to humanity.
(image placeholder)The Foundation's Humanitarian Programs fund international Rotary club and district projects to improve the quality of life, providing health care, clean water, food, education, and other essential needs primarily in the developing world. One of the major Humanitarian Programs is PolioPlus, which seeks to eradicate the poliovirus worldwide. Through its Educational Programs, the Foundation provides funding for some 1,200 students to study abroad each year. Grants are also awarded to university teachers to teach in developing countries and for exchanges of business and professional people. Former participants in the Foundation's programs have the opportunity to continue their affiliation with Rotary as .
For more information on current Foundation program awards and financial status see the Rotary Foundation Fact Card and the Rotary Foundation Annual Report, both of which are available for download.