We are delighted to respond to earlier Public Forum items (Sun City Independent, Jan. 13, 2009) about Rotary.

Regretfully, for many years Rotary did very little publicity. So many people do not know much about Rotary. It is an organization of local business men and women who like you see the need and have a desire to help. They comprise the local club and through Rotary are united to serve. The local clubs are Rotary, all projects come from members’ desires and passions, be it local or global. Rotary is an exceptional steward of its assets. All funds, other than dues sent to Rotary International, are 100 percent returned to local clubs for funding their projects.

Local clubs choose their own projects and have access to grants and other matching funds from Rotary International.

Our club has ongoing projects in our community, including tutoring El Mirage students in reading, teacher of the month program at El Mirage School (honors and thanks teachers for their dedication and hard work), sending at least two students from either Dysart High School or Cactus High School to our Rotary Youth Leadership training and cleaning yards for local elderly residents. We also connect with local groups and help with their projects, such as the Salvation Army’s’ Back To School program (helping with purchasing of school clothes and supplies) and their annual fundraising program "Ringing the Bells," which funds food programs, toys and food for families at Christmas and utility assistance programs, etc.

These are all local programs and some of these monies also fund national and international programs.

In addition our club, Sun Cikty Del Sol, gives monies for Rotary International projects, including water projects all over the world and the United States, polio immunization projects all over the world and as close as our boarder country, Mexico (our club members have gone to Mexico and immunized children). We paid for heart surgeries for children in India where there are no organizations to help and we bought furniture for schools in India and bathrooms so the girls could go to school.

We could go on and on, and this is just our one club, there are two other clubs in Sun City alone who do as much if not more both locally and internationally.

So, in closing, I would like to invite the passionate person/persons who penned the opinion about Rotary to come join us, We can help fill that need you spoke of, We can be the vehicle for your passion. We meet 7 a.m. Thursday mornings at Casa Del Rio, 12751 N. Plaza Del Rio Blvd., Peoria.

Is it good for all concerned?

Sun City