Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of “private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life.” The word philanthropy comes from ancient Greek word philanthrōpía — ‘love of humanity’, from philo- ‘to love, be fond of’ and anthrōpos ‘humankind, mankind’. That’s an apt description of our support to TRF.
Don Quixote in The Man of La Mancha sets out on a quest to find ‘good’ everywhere. This was a seemingly impossible quest. But he went on “to dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to go where the brave dare not go.”
In Rotary too our quest is to find good and do good everywhere. But in Rotary the impossible becomes possible because Rotarians are dreamers with an important difference. They are practical in their dreams. In their daily lives they think of the other fellow. They pick up the broken glass in the street so that the boys and girls in the neighbourhood will not cut their feet while playing.
So let me say a prayer: “May god bless all Rotarians with courage and commitment to think that they can make a difference so that Rotarians continue to do those things, work those projects that others say cannot be done.” And the best way to work on that, to do good everywhere is through The Rotary Foundation.
One such good way is our humanitarian grants programme. Through the various grants TRF transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives, closer home, and around the world. Hence supporting the Annual Fund becomes very important. It is our Annual Fund contributions today which help us do grants tomorrow. So my request to all is to invest in the Annual Fund today. Your contributions to the Foundation’s Annual Fund empower Rotary members to reach out where help is needed most.
As we move forward positively and work to end polio, supporting the Polio Fund is more critical than ever. Without Rotarians’ contributions we cannot achieve our dream of a polio-free world.
Endowment Fund is the future of TRF. Our investment in the Endowment Fund will ensure that future generations of Rotarians will carry on the good work of Rotary.
Together, we can and we will change the world. That’s the Magic of Rotary.
Wish you and your family great blessings, peace and happiness.
Bharat Pandya
TRF Trustee