The Rotary Club of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau welcomes Rotary International to the Queen City.  Zones 30-31 are in Cincinnati for the week long Rotary Institute, which is a leadership training meeting.

During the Institute, Rotarians will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Rotary Foundation.  The Foundation started with a single donation of $26.50 in Atlanta, GA.  Today, the Foundation has raised billions of dollars to dig water wells, help children learn to read, provide needed health opportunities and bring people to a better place of living.

As part of the celebration of the Foundation, Rotarians are donating books to six area schools. As of today, over 600 books have been collected for Cincinnati Public Schools and Mary Ronan, Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools and a Cincinnati Rotary  Club Member, was on hand today to accept a check in the amount of $500 as an additional donation to purchase books on behalf of the Institute.

Later this week, attendees will hear from Aziz Memon, national chair of Pakistan PolioPlus Committee, which leads efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan.  Currently, there are fewer than 25 reported cases of polio in the world, all in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  That number has sharply decreased from 350,000 cases reported in 1985.  Rotary International has made the eradication of polio worldwide a centerpiece of its humanitarian efforts.  It is expected that polio will be completely eradicated within just a few years.

As part of the Rotary Institute, John Germ, president of Rotary International, will be part of the festivities.  Germ has been president of the worldwide organization since July.

This Rotary Institute is for Zones 30-31, which covers most of 13 Midwest and Southern states.  Rotary International has more than 1.2 million members in more than 200 countries.  The Rotary Club of Cincinnati was the 17th club organized and began service in the Tristate in 1910.  Today, the club has more than 300 members.