District Governor visits local Rotary

After spearheading a matching grant through the Rotary Foundation, District Governor Gabor Karsai, knelt in front of a Somalian child-benefactor who was back at school after an upbringing spent herding cattle. He asked the child what he wanted to do when he grew up.
“I want to be a doctor so I can help people,” said the child through an interpreter.
At a recent Flushing Rotary meeting at Giardino’s Restaurant in Douglaston, Karsai spoke about the impact the Rotary Foundation – a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions – has on nations across the globe.
“Before we met him, he had no chance at an education, a future or a dream of a normal life . . . now, he can dream,” said Karsai, district governor of the Rotary Foundation for Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn.
Karsai was able to achieve this feat through what the Rotary calls matching grants; a one-to-one match for each dollar raised by Rotarians and a 50 cent match for each new cash contribution. To date, Gabor has helped build a trade school for an orphanage in Deva, Romania, has sponsored 15 street children in the Philippines and headed three matching grants made to help Cambodian families. According to their mission statement, the Rotary Foundation’s goal is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty.
The Flushing Rotary is no stranger to acts of charity and living the motto “service above self.” Newly installed Flushing Rotary President Veronica Tsang as well as other members have contributed their time and effort to the Gift of Life program; an organization that works hand in hand with Rotary clubs to facilitate free medical services to children suffering from congenital heart defects and other similar illnesses – regardless of race, creed, gender, religion or national origin – who would otherwise lack access to such services. After hearing Karsai’s presentation regarding matching grants and the application process, more projects – including the eradication of polio forever (only four countries have populations that suffer from the disease) – will surely be in the local Rotary’s future.
“The Rotary Foundation is not a foreign object or entity, it is ours. We are all Rotarians, this is our foundation,” Karsai said.