[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 5, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3890-S3891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             100TH ANNIVERSARY OF SANFORD-SPRINGVALE ROTARY

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, on September 16, Rotarians in Sanford and 
Springvale, ME, will gather to celebrate their 100th year of membership 
in a global network of neighbors, friends, and leaders working together 
for positive change in their communities and around the world. It is a 
pleasure to congratulate the Sanford/Springvale Rotary Club on a 
century of service.
  It is remarkable that what began as a small group of civic leaders in 
Chicago in 1905 has grown to a service organization of 1.4 million 
dedicated

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members in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. In 
any language, Rotarians live up to their motto of ``Service Above 
Self.''
  There are more than 46,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide. Chartered in 1923, 
the Sanford-Springvale Club was part of the first great wave of 
expansion that took the Rotary movement from major American cities to 
smaller communities, to Canada and Europe, and then on to Asia and 
Africa.
  Rotary International is a powerful force for good around the world. 
The global effort to eradicate polio is considered to be the most 
successful public health campaign in human history, one that would not 
have been possible without Rotary's commitment. When Rotary launched 
its PolioPlus program back in 1985, it was described as a ``gift from 
the 20th century to the 21st.'' It has been just that.
  In addition to its strong and ongoing support for PolioPlus, the 
Sanford-Springvale Club is part of a Rotary International effort to 
make affordable and safe water more widely available in developing 
countries. On one mission to a small village in India, club members 
combined the two initiatives by helping with a childhood immunization 
effort and carrying out a safe drinking water project.
  The Sanford-Springvale Club is a powerful force for good at home. 
From its ``January Thaw'' fundraiser to a summertime golf tournament, 
the club generously supports a wide range of charitable endeavors, 
including scholarships, literacy programs, food pantries, and nutrition 
programs for schoolchildren. Members collect winter clothes for those 
in need, participate in beach cleanups, and join together to complete 
community projects, like building a healing garden at the Cancer Care 
Center in Sanford.
  When Paul Harris led the way in founding Rotary International 118 
years ago, he said this: ``Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world 
it will be known by the results it achieves.'' The results are 
inspiring, and the world is grateful. The Rotary Club of Sanford and 
Springvale, ME, is part of that effort, and I congratulate its members 
for their accomplishments and contributions.

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