Rotary Santa Run in diverse steden

The Rotary Santa Run is being held this year in various cities from Barendrecht to Zaandijk. The final runs are being held this week. All those Santas running through the streets. What a beautiful sight and so photogenic! What do you know about the Rotary organization? Are you running for charity yourself? Is there a Rotary club in your municipality?

Rotary Santa Run

The Rotary Santa Run: a fun run where participants, dressed as Santa Claus, run a course for charity. It started in 2008 as an event of Rotary Club Gorinchem, after which this example was followed by many Rotary Clubs throughout the country. For instance, in 2019, the Rotary Santa Run was organized in 58 different cities, raising a combined total of over €450.000. This supported more than 100 charities. The years 2020–2022 were affected by COVID, and the event practically came to a standstill as hardly any permits were issued. From 2023 onwards, the upward trend resumed, and currently, many new applications are coming in again.  

Rotary

Rotary International is the international organization formed by the local Rotary Clubs. The organization describes its purpose as bringing together professional and business leaders who provide humanitarian services, promoting high ethical standards in all professions, and helping to build goodwill and peace in the world. Rotary’s motto is “Service above Self,” which means subordinating one’s own self-interest to that of society.

The first local Rotary Service Club, as they are called in full, was founded on February 23, 1905, in Chicago, United States, by lawyer Paul Harris. As of 2019, there are more than 35.000 local Rotary clubs with a total of approximately 1.200.000 members. The name Rotary derives from the principle that all positions are filled temporarily (on a rotating basis). Initially, the weekly meetings also rotated among the participants' offices.   Activities Members are encouraged to engage in five main activities, avenues of service:

• community service, supporting charities.
• club service, the functioning of one's own club.
• international service, relationships with like-minded people internationally.
• vocational service, the application of ethical principles within one's own professional group.
• new generation service, offering young people opportunities to develop themselves through Rotary's youth programs.

Community service is the primary goal of Rotary, while the other four are important prerequisites to make this possible. Rotary International has an active LGBT+ community that is committed to an inclusive society.

  The Netherlands In 1923, the first Dutch club was founded in Amsterdam. In 2020, the Netherlands had over 500 clubs and 16.000 members. Rotary International has divided the world into geographical areas. As of June 1, 2010, there are 533 so-called districts in the world. Each district has a representative appointed by the President of Rotary International, the district governor. The Netherlands is divided into seven numbered districts (D1550, D1560, D1570, D1580, D1590, D1600, and D1610), each with an autonomous governor. Like other service clubs, Rotary in the Netherlands is struggling with an aging membership problem.   Belgium Just like in the Netherlands, the first Belgian Rotary was also founded in 1923. It was shipowner John Bauwens and banker Washington Serruys who founded Rotary Ostend on July 7, 1923. In 1927, Rotary Club Ostend organized the International Rotary Convention at the Casino-Kursaal in Ostend. King Albert I attended the ceremony, along with approximately 8000 international Rotarians who descended on the city for a week.

  Luxembourg As of today (2023), the Belgian and Luxembourg Rotary Clubs are divided into 4 districts, namely D2130 (West and East Flanders), D2140 (Antwerp, Limburg, Flemish Brabant and the Dutch-speaking and English-speaking Brussels Clubs), D2150 (Hainaut, Walloon Brabant and the French-speaking Brussels Clubs), D2160 (Namur, Liège, the Belgian province of Luxembourg and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg). In March 2022, there were approximately 10.250 Rotarians in 289 Belux Clubs.

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

Rotary Santa Run: https://www.rotarysantarun.nl/ Previous Christmas traditions blogs: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/kersttradities/