Rotary Club of East Aurora

Rotary Information

Rotary is an international organization of business and professional leaders united through a shared commitment to humanitarian service. They are dedicated to fostering goodwill and peace around the world while upholding high ethical standards in the conduct of their vocational and professional endeavors. Rotary’s motto and guiding principle is Service Above Self — service in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the globe. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues — children at risk, poverty, hunger, the environment, illiteracy and violence. They also support: programs for youth; educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals; and vocational and career development.

Founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer, the Rotary network now spans five continents and includes 1,200,000 members and more than 30,000 clubs in 163 countries. A Rotarian visiting any one of these clubs may find vastly different languages and menus, but the spirit expressed in the Rotary theme---Service Above Self---is the same. Rotarians around the globe believe that if everyone involved in a business or profession could be inspired to govern their day-to-day conduct by higher ethical and moral standards, their own lives and their business or profession would improve and benefit.

Rotary Links

Rotary International
Rotary International District 7090

Our Mission

To create an association of business, professional and community leaders committed to high ethical standards, community service, world understanding and goodwill.

Rotary's Four Avenues of Service

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster service in the Four Avenues of Service. These are expressed as Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. The goals of each avenue are carried out at the committee level.

Club Service

Perhaps the least understood Avenue of Service is that of Club Service, but in many ways, it is the fundamental building block of a successful Rotary Club. Without the organization and fellowship of the Club, none of the other Avenues of Service could ever be consistently or successfully be accomplished. Club Service involves the logistical and operational support needed to help the club function successfully.

Vocational Service

Rotary’s second Avenue of Service promotes high ethical standards in business and professions, recognizing the worthiness of all useful occupations and fosters the ideal of service in the pursuit of all vocations. The role of the club includes developing projects that help members contribute their talents to society’s needs. The role of Rotarians includes conducting themselves and their businesses in accordance with Rotary principles and responding to projects of the club. Vocational Service is at the very heart of Rotary; indeed, Rotary was founded by a group of businessmen as a forum for them to share their experiences and to interact with colleagues in different industries. To this day, an integral part of any Rotary club is the maintenance of a balance among classifications of businesses and professions. Vocational Service is unlike the other three Avenues of Service in one very important aspect. The other three Avenues are all related to the Rotary Club, but the Vocational Service Avenue is the one arena in which the Rotarian is personally involved.

Community Service

Rotary’s third Avenue of Service is comprised of varied efforts that Rotarians make, sometimes in conjunction with others, to improve the quality of life for those who live in the club territory. Community Service is the most visible of the four Avenues of Service, as well it should be. After all, the Rotary Club is organized at the local level, with members derived from the business and professional community who live and work in the Buffalo area.

International Service

Rotary’s fourth Avenue of Service comprises all the things that a Rotarian can do to advance “international understanding, goodwill, and peace” by getting acquainted with people of other countries, their cultures, customs, accomplishments, aspirations, problems - through personal contacts, attendance at conventions, through reading and correspondence, and through cooperation in all club activities and projects - including those of the Rotary International Foundation - that will help people in other lands. International Service takes on a number of different forms, but at the heart is the awareness that Rotary is truly an international organization, and that the community of Rotarians is worldwide in scope.