Katy Rotary’s Charitable Endeavors

P.O. Box 70, Katy, TX 77492

Contact Rotarian: George Yeiter 281-481-3123 –

The Service Benefits & Obligations of Rotary Membership

Katy Rotary’s Commitment to Service

OVERVIEW

About Us: Formed in 1946, the Rotary Club of Katy, TX, has a diverse membership of 70 members. The club is part of Rotary International, a volunteer service organization, with approximately 1.2 million business and community leaders belonging to more than 35,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

Rotary is still for Busy People If Not You Then Who Ordinary People Doing…

Mission: We come together to create positive, lasting change in our Katy community and around the world with focus on health, education, hunger, poverty, peace, and the environment.

Motto: “Service Above Self”

SPECIFICS:

Katy Rotarians Have Two Broad ServiceCommitments:

  1. Katy Area Service:Our primary service objective is to build and support our Katy Area Community. We use both club funds and our Katy Rotary Fund, a 501(c)(3) Charity, to fund Katy Area Service. Katy Rotary is a recognized provider of service to our community;
  1. Worldwide Service: As a secondary Service Objective, Katy Rotarians also supports our world community. Since we do not live alone in this small world, we join with 35,000 other Rotary clubs in approximately 200 countries helping each other build and support our communities. A material portion of this service commitment concentrates on geographic areas with extreme poverty and dire needs. The common entity we use for funding and coordination of service isThe Rotary Foundation (TRF).

How Can YouServe?

  • It takes Time and Money to meet Rotary’s Service Missions.
  • TIME:
  • Katy Service: Participate in fundraising events and club service projects here is the Greater Katy Community;
  • World Service: The Katy Club partners with foreign Rotary Clubs and assigned Rotarians will carry out our portion of these projects. We also participate in outreach projects that may come to Katy. Individual Rotarians may volunteer to visit foreign lands to work there on projects.
  • MONEY:
  • Katy Service: Buy attendance tickets, buy raffle auction items, and influence your business to sponsor our fundraising functions to support Katy Area Service.
  • World Service: Make contributions to“The Rotary Foundation”(TRF) that supports our world service mission. TRFconnects all 35,000 Rotary Clubs together in common service projects. These contributions supportprojects in the Katy community as well as our world community.

How Much Time and Money:

It is always about what each individual is capable of providing with their personal time and financial resources. These are suggestions:

  • Fundraising and Charitable Project Involvement:
  • Minimum time suggestedis 24 hours in a year which is2 hours a month or 4 minutes a day.
  • Most Rotarians do more. Likewise some do less.
  • It depends on what each Rotarian can give and it may change from year to year: One’s family, spiritual life, and employment come first.
  • Minimum financial recommendation to charitable service:
  • Club Charitable Events and Projects:This runs around $300 a year. Often it is in the form of:
  • Buying tickets to entertainment events;
  • Bidding on auction items;
  • Buying Christmas gifts; and,
  • Rotarians with businesses oftenadvertise at club events which benefit their business (this is more than the $250).
  • The Rotary Foundation: The recommended minimum is $125/year.

The Rotary Club of Katy and The Katy Rotary Fund

Fundraising Activities:

The funds from fundraising activities are conducted via a number of different activities. Some are onetime events whereas others are annual. Our two large annual events are:

  • The Katy Triathlon – The primary events conducted by The Katy Rotary Fund nets revenue ranging from $25,000 to $40,000 per year since 1992. The funds are primarily used for scholarships in the Katy Independent School District. On occasion, funds are collected for and grants are made for other community needs such as Hurricane Harvey Relief.

The Wild West Brew Fest – Is hosted by The Rotary Club of Katy since 2011. In addition to the club members, approximately 600 non Rotarian community volunteers work this event. It has grown from 1,700 to 8,000 attendees in just 6 short years. The WWBF is built around 4 core principles: Integrity, Teamwork, Continuous Improvement and Service to Community. These principals have assisted us in not only building this event, but also building our club into what it is today.

  • The craft beer industry association, Beer Yeti, awarded our Brew Fest the designation as the Best Beer Festival in the USA for 2016 and 2017. In addition, the WWBF is one of the only beer festivals that are members of the Brewers Association of America. With over 600 different craft beers are served from over 100 US brewers, this event has generated over $600,000 from 2011-2017. These monies fund local Katy Rotary Club service projects and grants are made to many local Katy Charities.
  • Flights and Bites
  • Listing of Some Katy Rotary Club Projects:
  • Community Emergency Support projects as the needs arise with both time and money from time to time as they occur;
  • FFA Support: The FFA is an American501(c)(3)youth organization, specifically acareer and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and supportagriculturaleducation.

At Katy Rotary, we make grants for low income youth to buy animals to raise for their school year project. We providedinner for the FFA students and their families during setup of the livestock show. We bid on FFA students’ animals at the auction. We process the meat and donate the meat to local Katy food banks.

  • KISD bands: Katy Rotary purchases band equipment for students with insufficient family resources to allow them to join the band.
  • KISD Elementary Schools: Katy Rotary members purchase paint and materials for Rotarians to paint large maps of the USA divided by state boundaries on the concrete playgrounds of the elementary schools. The teachers use the maps for fun and entertaining teaching of US geography and history.
  • KISD Katy Gardening Project: We build garden plots for students to work on developing their own Green Thumb.
  • Toy Drive: At Christmas time, Rotarians make dreams come true for children who want a toy but will not get it without Rotary organizing a drive to make it happen.
  • Paint USA

  • Conducting Community Events: We conduct two major community events for citizens and guest to enjoy each year: the Katy Wild West Brew FestBrewfestand the Katy Triathlon. Events are an important part of a community.

We have promoted, managed, and participated in other community events as we have been requested by the City of Katy and other governmental and civic organizations. A “community event” is an integral part of the quality of life that each community needs.

  • Katy Scholarship Committee: selects students to receive our scholarships.
  • Disaster Relief: We make room in our lives to share our time and money to help our neighbors in times of emergency and afterwards when it is time to rebuild. For example, Katy Rotarians put on their work clothes and “Mucked Up” houses that were flooded by Harvey in addition to donating tens of thousands of dollars for materials and supplies.
  • Community Memorials:Katy Rotary partnered with the Ft Bend VFW andour combined efforts brought about the erection of the Freedom Park’s Memorial Tower.

The 52-foot-tall monument, topped off by a hand-crafted stainless steel star, is meant as a tribute to the men and women who have honorably given their lives for this nation as well as those currently defending the freedom of the United States in all five branches of the military around the world. It is also a memorial to those who lost their lives on that tragic day in 2001.

  • Library Books: For many years Katy Rotary has been donating 48 books per year to the library at Brookwood Community in nearby Brookshire, TX. The Brookwood Community is a God-centered educational, residential, and entrepreneurial community for adults with functional disabilities
    just west of Houston. We usually hold one club meeting a year at their café in Brookshire.
  • Charity Organization Participation. Katy Rotarians not only donate money to local charities but individual Rotarians who are touched by the various charity messages often participate as volunteers. We might: go fishing with a child; help in a retirement home; volunteer to assemble desks in a local charity who was hard hit by Hurricane Harvey; help an organization dealing with abused children or another with abused animals; and, the examples go on and on. Rotarians help with their personal time and the money they helped the club raise.
  • Here are the names of a few Katy charities that Katy Rotary has supported with time and/or money: KISD Special Rodeo; Take Me Fishing; Child Advocates of Fort Bend County; Christ Clinic; Casa de Esparza for abused children;The Ballard House; Armor of Hope; West Side Homeless; Camp Hope; and, the list goes on and on. Most of these are small charities that struggle to find funding and every dollar counts for someone in need.
  • Here are the names of a few International Projects: The Children of The Dump in Nicaragua. Guerrero Clinic in Mexico; Books of the World in Africa; Cancun Mexico Street Children Orphanage and Shelter; Columbian Schools for Refugees of Venezuela.

The Rotary Foundation

The Rotary Foundation (TRF) is an international “501(c)3” charitable foundation. It is managed out of the Rotary International (RI) headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Donations come from around the world. TRF is rated as the top charity is the world.

It is unique in both who donates and who decides how the funds are spent.

  • WHO DONATES:
  • Rotarians and their clubs are the primary donors.
  • Non-Rotarians have made major donations from a few dollars to millions and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated billions.
  • WHO DECIDES HOW THE FUNDS ARE SPENT:
  • Rotarian Trustees set policy and oversea TRF paid staff who handles the administration and the investment of the funds.
  • Rotarians around the world through their 35,000 Rotary clubs decide how they will spend the money. This is unique to charities where generally, the donors do not decide how to spend the money donated. This is a Bottoms – Up Organization.
  • WHAT ENDEVORS RECEIVE THE FUNDS:
  • Funds can be spent by the clubs in any of 6 “Avenues of Service” for Rotary Club projects and to support the charity endeavors of partner charities;
  • The follow charitable endeavors can receive funding:
  • Scholarships – Two different scholarships:
  • Global Scholarship – A master’s degree program for students to study in another county than their own in a subject within the 6 Areas of Focus. Nominees are selected by the clubs and the winners are chosen by a committee made up of multiple club Rotarians;
  • Peace Scholarship – a Masters Degree program and extended workshops in “Peace and Conflict Resolution” that is taught at 7 universities in different countries. Nominees are recommended by clubs and districtsthen selected by Trustees.
  • Global Grants – Requires clubs from different clubs in the world to partner together on a project that both clubs are interested in accomplishing. The clubs involved come up with their own money for the project. They submit a Global Grant request to receive additional monies for TRF.
  • Polio eradication efforts – Polio has moved from 360,000 children per year to on 22 in 2017. Very close and headed to zero.

Although TRF provides emergency relief funds, we concentrate on short term sustainable long term projects. We are builders of humanity that “Lend a Hand” to get people back on their feet, retain their dignity and support themselves.

  • THE 6 AREAS OF FOCUS:
  • These 6 Focus Areas are intended to build international relationships, improve lives and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.

1.Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene - We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.

2.Supporting education - More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.

3.Growing local economies: We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.

  1. Fighting Disease: We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
  1. Saving Mothers and Children: Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
  1. Promoting Peace:Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
  • WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES:

The object and values of Rotary plus the law of the land require guidelines and accountability;

  • Rotarians nor their families cannot receive any personal benefit from charitable funds;
  • Except for the Rotary the corporate project of eliminating Polio, the Rotarians in the clubs select most any charitable projects that they wish to work on that fits in the 6 Focus Areas and for which they need financial resources from TRF.
  • Rotary does have a number of non-charity programs that Rotarians and their families can participate to include: International student exchange programs; Free home stay and exchange programs for travelers; Fellowship groups such as for musicians, wine aficionados; RV travelers; Fishermen; Golfers; Pilots; Boating enthusiast; and, more.
  • Where & How to Donate:
  • Online Donations: It is recommended that your designate $100 to the “Annual Fund” and $25 to the “Polio Fund”. Of course more is welcomed.
  • If you make your donation on line at you will have to do two separate donation transactions.
  • Set up an account at My Rotary
  • At the top right hand part of the page you will see the word: Join”. Click here and set up an account. It will allow you do make donations and to access your personal information in your Rotary account. You can also see the Clubs Goals and how things are progressing during the year.
  • It will help if you would made a onetime donation for the first year then after finishing those two transactions, set up a periodic donation using a credit card for future years. You will not have to remember every year and a small monthly or quarterly donation and it may fit better with your financial budget.
  • By check: You can give the check to Treasurer or preferable to the Club’s “Rotary Foundation Chairperson”.

Helpful Websites:

Katy Rotary Club:

Katy Rotary Facebook:

Katy Rotary Triathlon:

Katy Rotary Brewfest:

Where Money is Spent:

Rotary Videos:

Rotary International:

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