Press Release from RIBI

March 2004

Souvenir & Collectors Centennial Envelope Celebrates 100 Years of Rotary

To celebrate 100 years of Rotary International the Rotary Club of Newtownabbey has designed and produced an attractive commemorative envelope. The envelopes will be franked and posted from Chicago on 23 February 2005. The cost per envelope is £6.00 (or 9 euros or 12 US Dollars).

This is a unique opportunity for all Rotarians and friends not only to participate in and celebrate 100 years of Rotary but also to support the Rotary Foundation to which all monies raised will be donated. Rotary Foundation is Rotary’s corporate charity and is the world’s largest private charity. Since 1947 The Rotary Foundation has made over $1 billion in awards since 1947, and $94.1 million in 2002-2003.

The envelopes contain a précis of the life of Rotary’s Founder Paul Harris and messages from Rotary International President Elect Glenn Estess, Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland President Elect Gordon McNally and District Governor Crawford Wilson.

The envelopes may be ordered online at www.rotarycentennialenvelope.com, or by sending name and address (as will appear on the envelope) together with a cheque, made payable to the Rotary Club of Newtonabbey Trust Fund, to Martin Sayliss, 10 Glenshane Park Newtonabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 0QN Northern Ireland. All orders must be paid for at the time of ordering. Envelopes will not be posted out until 23 February 2005, the centennial anniversary of the founding of the first Rotary Club in Chicago. Ever since, Rotary’s work has spanned the globe, with clubs in 166 countries and a membership of 1.2 million businessmen and women.

For more information please contact Judith Diment on 01628 672965 or 07860 162313 or judithdiment@aol.com

Notes to Editors

Rotary is an organisation of business and professional men and women who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards, and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. Paul Harris formed the world’s first service club in Chicago on 23rd February 1905. The name Rotary is derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members’ offices. Today there are some 1.2 million Rotary club members of more than 30,000 clubs in 166 countries.

In Great Britain and Ireland there are 1833 clubs with 58,000 members. The oldest Rotary Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland are Dublin, Belfast, London and Manchester, which were founded in 1911.