About Our Club

The heart of Rotary is our members, dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship.

Our members share ideas, make plans, hear from the community, and catch up with friends during club programs that fuel the impact we make. 

While Rotary clubs are grounded in the same values, no two are the same, because each community has its own unique needs. At club meetings our members come together to strengthen their connections to friends and neighbors and their commitment to improving lives.

Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905, so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships.

Over time, Rotary’s reach and vision gradually extended to humanitarian service. Members have a long track record of addressing challenges in their communities and around the world.

Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves. 

 Paul Harris Rotary founder

Our ongoing commitment

That commitment endures today through an organization that remains truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Our members now span the globe, working to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.

We’re not afraid to dream big and set bold goals. We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. Today, polio remains endemic in only two countries — down from 125 in 1988.