Past District Governor Tony Heading is a veritable walking data centre on The Rotary Foundation (TRF), the only charity of Rotary International, (not to be confused with very worthwhile local, Rotary based charities, such as ROMAC, RAWCS, just to name a couple). All donations to TRF are tax deductible (via Rotary Foundation Australia). TRF is one of the largest non-government charities in the world, with a consistent, and rare, top rating of four stars by Charity Navigator, with 10/10 points in every segment of evaluation. TRF concentrates on seven Areas of Focus:- Basic education and literacy
- Community economic development
- Disease prevention and treatment
- Maternal and child health
- Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
- Environment
Surfers Sunrise, together with the Rotary clubs of Broadbeach and Gold Coast, has been a major beneficiary with a Global
Grant for the X-Ray Annexe for Mauna Hospital, recently packed into a container for shipment, with $15,000 (three grants of $5,000 each) to the three participating clubs. As Mario Fairlie outlined, “overall, the support we have received from the District and Rotary International has been phenomenal.” Our application has also had the support of other, international Rotary clubs. You may recall the recent visit of a group of Rotarians from the Rotary club of Kasoko, Japan as well as a New Zealand club.
One of the largest ongoing projects of TRF is dedicated to the eradication of Polio, Polio Plus. When it started in 1985, some 350,000 people worldwide suffered from Polio. Today, there are just 30 (28 in Afghanistan and 2 in Pakistan). For the world to be declared Polio free, there need to be zero cases for three years. A major milestone has been achieved that now even the Taliban allows for inoculation teams access into regions previously inaccessible.