As governor for District 5580, Roly Turner is required to visit each club in the district. A total of 65 clubs exist in District 5580, which spans North Dakota and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada.
Rotary's contribution includes financial support for ShelterBoxes, or emergency shelter, which are sent to disaster-struck areas. In response to the need in Haiti, Wahpeton and Breckenridge clubs raised enough funding to purchase two boxes in May. Eighty of these boxes have so far gone to the country, Turner said. Funding covers material costs, deploying and setting up the shelter.
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The club also partners with UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to eradicate polio. Since 1985, the club has reduced the presence of the disease in 125 countries to four where it is still prevalent - Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will award $355 million to Rotary International for the cause if members can raise $200 million worldwide. At this point, they've raised $140 million, said Turner.
"We can't stop now," he said. "If we do, we'll lose everything we gained."
Efforts by members will continue after the disease is gone. People will still need to be immunized, and some polio victims don't have access to wheelchairs and other basics we take for granted, said Turner.
Youth interested in Rotary have access to the World Peace Fellowship, a competitive master's degree usually awarded after 3-5 years of ground experience in conflicted areas, and the Ambassadorial Scholarship, which sponsors a year abroad.
Roteract and Interact - Rotary Clubs for youth aged 18-30 and at the high school level, respectively - are also available.
Opportunities like these allow young people to discover "we're not the center of the world," said Turner, while foreign exchanges allow them to understand and respect different cultures.
"Just because somebody is doing something different doesn't make it wrong," he laughed.
A native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Turner has been active in Rotary International since 1982. He and his wife, Judy, are "partnering" the district governship and say they've gotten to know each of the district's clubs on an intimate level.
The best part has been "seeing the people that make it work," he said.
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