100 Years of Rotary
The Key West City Commission has proclaimed April 1st the Rotary Club of Key West Day in honor of the 100th anniversary of its charter. For 100 years, members of the Rotary Club have put “service above self” by faithfully serving the community.
“The Rotary Club of Key West has a long history of action to make our city better,” reads the proclamation, “by providing leadership in the establishment of other community organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Key West Chapter of the American Red Cross.”
Over the past century, Rotary helped establish the Key West High School football program, created Boy Scout Troop 52, and sponsored the first participant to Florida Girls State. It continues today to support various youth athletic teams and many charitable organizations.
It sponsors other local Rotary Clubs, raises funds for and administers the Rotary Dental program for children, and supports the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti. The Rotary Club of Key West continues to provide annual Citizenship Awards to local school children, and the $25,000 Paul J. Sher Scholarship to a graduating senior.
The Rotary Club of Key West joined with other organizations world-wide with financial contributions and active participation to immunize children throughout the world against polio and other childhood diseases, resulting in more than two billion children in 122 countries receiving protection from polio and the near eradication the polio in the world.