PDG Jerry Chapman spoke to us about the Rotary Foundation. He told the history of Rotary and the Rotary Foundation. Rotary was started by Paul Harris in 1905 as a business networking group. However, in 1916-17, the first seeds for Rotary Foundation planted by Arch Klumpf, who had a vision of Rotarians doing good around the world. Jerry read us the mission of the Rotary Foundation, which is to help Rotarians “…to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.” Rotary is a membership organization that does service and is not just isolated members of individual clubs, but part of a bigger vision. The impossible becomes the possible when we can work together. Jerry described how global water projects help free up women to be educated and that the Foundation is so much more than the banner and pins of recognition; it’s about changing lives. He described why the Foundation is important and how we should make supporting the Foundation a priority. Jerry told his story about starting to donate to the Foundation and when he became club president and how he learned more about the Foundation during that process. He talked about impact of giving on a district level. District 5870 has $750,00 from the Foundation this year for local district grants. Jerry said we should be proud to be Rotarians and share our Rotary stories!! In response to a question, Jerry discussed what Polio Plus entails. Jerry also described the various matching programs for Foundation donations. He told us about Rotary Direct, which is a way to automate your giving on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis.