Arch Klumph And His Dream of the Rotary Foundation
Arch C. Klumph was virtually a one-man cheering section for the formation of the fund that we know today as the Rotary International Foundation. For ten long years Arch Klumph made the case for the formation of a funding mechanism for service projects in furtherance of the moto, “He profits most who serves the best” the predicate of our current motto, “Service Above Self.”
It wasn’t until 1928, at the International Conference in Minneapolis that our Foundation was made a part of Rotary International. Rotary had it’s foundation but world events, the aftermath of WW1 and the ongoing impact of the Great Depression, almost scuttled the fledgling Foundation. When Paul Harris was contemplating his death, he expressed that he neither expected nor desired much attention upon his passing. He suggested that anyone inclined could consider a donation to the Foundation of Rotary International. After Paul Harris died in 1947, over two million dollars in memorial donations came to the foundation within the next year. In both life and death, Paul Harris served Rotary.
