Five Paul Harris Fellows were recognized Thursday at the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Effingham County.
In 1917, RI President Arch C. Klumph proposed that an endowment be set up “for the purpose of doing good in the world.” In 1928, when the endowment fund had grown to more than US$5,000, it was renamed The Rotary Foundation, and it became a distinct entity within Rotary International.
Five Trustees, including Klumph, were appointed to “hold, invest, manage, and administer all of its property ... as a single trust, for the furtherance of the purposes of RI.”
Two years later, the Foundation made its first grant of $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children. The organization, created by Rotarian Edgar F. “Daddy” Allen, later grew into the Easter Seals.
The Great Depression and World War II both impeded the Foundation’s growth, but the need for lasting world peace generated great postwar interest in its development. After Rotary’s founder, Paul P. Harris, died in 1947, contributions began pouring into Rotary International, and the Paul Harris Memorial Fund was created to build the Foundation.
For complete story, see Tuesday's edition of the Herald.
