The Jerusalem Rotary Club

Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Jerusalem Rotary Club President, Rafi Aldor Secretary, Zvi Sharoni Treasurer, Alexandra Darmon

Chartered 11 March 1929 Members of the first Rotary Club of Jerusalem Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Cairo, Our Sponsoring Club Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Bell Given By Cairo Club 1931 Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Membership through the years has included members from across the full range of religious and cultural communities which live in Jerusalem Club Membership Initial membership Current membership Average membership Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Meeting Places First Meeting Place Fast Hotel Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Current Meeting Place Jerusalem International YMCA Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

District Non-Districted Area District Changes in the District District District Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Lars Lind, , District 83 Lucien Harris, , District 2490 District Governors from the Jerusalem Club ____________ Irene Lewitt, , District 2490

Jerusalem West, 1965 Sponsoring New Clubs Nazareth, 1952 Tel-Aviv, 1935 Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Important Transitions 1989 Finally, the Arrival of Women to Rotary First Woman District Governor in District 2490, Irene Lewitt First woman President of the Jerusalem Rotary Club, Ruth Harris First woman member of the Jerusalem Rotary Club, Ilana Gerard Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Early projects: 1930’s supported the establishment of a fire brigade in Jerusalem Projects to assist with the needs of crippled children Books in Hebrew Arabic and English collected for the Jerusalem Prison library Club Projects Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Club Projects Bicycles for Tsunami Victims Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013 Good Drivers Education Program Wheelchairs for Yad Sarah Installation of Sewage Pipes, Neve Shalom Toys for Needy Children

Matching Grant Projects Playground in the Musrara Neighborhood In cooperation with Jerusalem West Club and the Skokie Valley, Illinois Club Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

Matching Grant Projects Playground Equipment and Literacy Materials for the YMCA’s Multi-Cultural Gan Shalom Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

St. Vincent’s Home for Mentally and Physically Disabled Children Hadassah Hospital, Mt. Scopus Recovery and Activity Room For Children with Cancer Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013 Matching Grant Projects Menton, France

Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013 Recent Projects 1.Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center. The production and distribution of information and education pamphlets to raise awareness of the help available and to inform the public generally. 2.Herzog Hospital (Jerusalem). The purchase of a specialized electric wheelchair for children with severe respiratory problems. 3.Gan Rimonim. A special education nursery school that requires the support of a psychiatrist whose services are not covered by the Health and Education Ministries. Support for one year. 4.Shalom First Graders A District project that helps needy first grade children (Kitah Aleph) purchase basic school requirements.

Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013 Recent Matching Grant Projects 1.Pediatric Oncology Department of the Sao Paulo University Hospital (Brazil). Upgrading and expansion of the department. A reciprocal Matching Grant that included a District DDF contribution. 2.Israel Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Israel. The acquisition of two Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilation (IPV) units. Participating clubs were from Hamburg and Dusseldorf in Germany. 3.Tele-health Project in Ghana. A program for the training of nursing aides in Northern Ghana in conjunction with the Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem. The Windsor Rotary Club in Canada and the Accra RC in Ghana are the lead clubs 4.The Trudi Birger Dental Clinic. The project provided the clinic with panoramic x-ray equipment. Participating clubs were from California.

Scholarships The Jerusalem Rotary Club’s longest continuously running project has been to award scholarships to high school students studying technical and scientific subjects from the Jerusalem Rotary Club Foundation which it founded in 1968 Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013

“Go about your common tasks together, avoid discussions of dissentious subjects, and your reward will be friendship.’’ - Paul Harris Rotary and Jerusalem 1929 – 2013