Rotary clubs and districts worldwide mobilized to bring aid to victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March. The Rotary Foundation established the Rotary Japan 2011 Disaster Recovery Fund, which has raised almost US$6 million for long-term recovery projects.
RI President Kalyan Banerjee unveiled the 2011-12 RI theme
India made great strides toward polio eradication in 2011, with only one case of the virus reported. Rotarians helped administer bivalent oral polio vaccine to more than 35 million children in India during a Subnational Immunization Day, and a team of Rotarians immunized children in a health camp in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Rotarians also worked to get out the mes-sage about polio eradication for World Polio Day in October.
4. 2011 Rotary International Convention
More than 16,000 Rotarians from around the world converged in May in New Orleans for the 2011 RI Convention. Rotaractors, Rotarians, and Rotary Foundation alumni participated in service projects to help families still recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees approved four strategic partner-ships to help Rotary broaden its impact by offering service opportunities to Rotarians through packaged global grants.