TRF Trustee Chair
Nearly a year ago, I wrote my first message to you as Rotary Foundation trustee chair, encouraging you and all our members to take a fresh look at the Foundation and its unique way of making the world better.
In the months that followed, I invited Rotary members from around the world to share their own stories about projects they have led with Foundation support. They described the impact they witnessed firsthand and how thousands of lives have been transformed.
Now that you have heard about so many successful projects and the wonderful members and dedicated staff who make them happen, I ask that you, too, become part of this success story.
Your donation to The Rotary Foundation already makes a difference. However, I would like to take it a step further and encourage you to think bigger: Consider making a targeted investment in the area most important to you.
Each of us has a particular passion. Yet we all share something in common: We want people around the world to be better off. In Rotary, your dreams of a better world can become reality with the help of The Rotary Foundation. Because Rotarians don’t just dream — they put their dreams into action. And these actions make a real and lasting difference in so many lives.
With your investment in polio vaccinations, you work to ensure that no child will ever contract polio again. With your investment in Rotary Peace Centers, you contribute to world peace. By investing in our Annual Fund, you ensure that effective projects will continue to be sustainably funded.
Not every contribution to the Foundation needs to be large. Every gift helps us achieve the lasting impact you have read about this year. The world needs Rotary more than ever. It needs our courage, optimism, and commitment to the common good. This is why we need you.
We have a variety of areas of focus in Rotary. Whether you choose to support maternal health in Nigeria, literacy programmes in Belize, economic empowerment in communities recovering from hardship, or freshwater protection projects, your investment will create a lasting, measurable impact. Giving to the Foundation is about so much more than funding projects. It’s a way to show compassion and empathy for others. As I have said many times before — and believe more now than ever — everything we do opens an opportunity for someone, somewhere.
I am grateful for this opportunity to serve.
Holger Knaack
TRF Trustee Chair