UN Public Service Day: Rotary provides $20 million to help communities respond to COVID-19

EVANSTON, Ill. (June 23, 2020) - Rotary members throughout the world are working safely and diligently to assess and provide for urgent community needs as they strive to respond and recover from the effects of COVID-19 coronavirus on UN Public Service Day and beyond.

While following social-distancing and health guidelines, they are providing comfort and hope to those feeling the effects of isolation and fear, and focusing their resources and solutions toward supporting frontline health workers and first responders as they battle this disease and save lives.

"As leaders in virtually every community on earth, we bring a unique combination of local knowledge and access to a global network of expertise and resources," said Mark Daniel Maloney, president of Evanston-based Rotary International. "In the face of uncertainty, we are adapting to shifting needs to offer immediate help to people at a rapid pace. And we'll remain committed to recovering from this health crisis for as long as it takes."

Rotary members are taking action to provide a range of solutions including handwashing stations and food to those unable to social distance in Kenya, lifesaving information about preventing the spread of COVID-19 in India, ventilators and protective gear for overstretched hospitals in Italy and vital social connections to neighbors who live alone in Bethesda, Maryland.

In Illinois, Rotary clubs in Evanston are partnering with local restaurants to provide hundreds of meals to residents during the pandemic. And two days before its annual fundraiser, the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates moved the event to Facebook. It auctioned more than 100 items and raised more than $100,000, about the same amount as in previous years. Food set to feed 350 people at the event was delivered to those in need.

The Rotary Foundation, Rotary's charitable arm, has to date awarded $20 million to support Rotary clubs worldwide in their immediate response to COVID-19 in their communities, and to long term recovery efforts.

To learn more about Rotary's response to COVID-19 and to find out how you can get involved, visit https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-clubs-help-fight-covid-19-pandemic.