TRF: A beacon of hope

We celebrated a subdued Diwali a few days ago. In November, we also celebrated The Rotary Foundation month. Diwali signifies victory of good over evil, light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. And isn’t ‘hope’ what our Foundation provides to those who face despair? Yes, Diwali and TRF’s objective of doing good in the world are so similar! Diwali is a never-ending quest for light. For many, the light they seek is at the end of the tunnel.

For over a century, TRF has been the torch-bearer which carries the beacon of hope for millions of people. TRF needs you to contribute by monetarily lighting the diya that provides hope for those in the dark tunnel in need of our support. For TRF to continue to do good in the world, it needs contributions, especially to the Annual and Polio Funds.

My fellow Rotarians, it’s more than likely that the World Fund for global grants will be exhausted by end December, if not earlier. This only strengthens the fervent appeal to give to the Annual Fund because more money there will mean more in the World Fund.

We, the TRF Trustees, are grateful for your support to the Foundation and recognise that the Trustees must also take steps to address the financial pressure on the World Fund resulting from Rotarians’ strong interest in implementing global grants. As a result, the Rotary grants staff has been restructured. This necessitated that some grant files be moved from one regional grants officer to another. Please do confirm who your current regional grants officer is. For many areas, there is no change.

Thank you for your patience as your Foundation staff adjusts to these changing assignments and the increase in files handled by each grants officer. We value your support to our Foundation so that it continues to keep doing good in the world.

Gulam A Vahanvaty
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation