Do Good with Us: The Rotary Foundation
Since 1917, Rotary’s foundation has spent more than $3.7 billion helping people and communities.
People donate money to good causes for all sorts of reasons; it could be a personal connection to a community in need, a debt of gratitude for a past kindness, or a desire to leave a legacy. We asked eight people around the world what motivates them to give to The Rotary Foundation — and to keep giving — and the answers were as diverse as our membership. Here is one of their stories.
By Sallyann Price
My gifts help young people lead healthy lives
Ignacio Holtz, Rotary Club of Cuajimalpa, Mexico
Nearly 20 years ago, Ignacio Holtz was suffering from chronic kidney disease and in need of a transplant. His wife, Beatriz, made the lifesaving donation of a healthy kidney. When he joined a Rotary club a few years later, he talked with fellow members about how to help less fortunate patients in the same situation.
Ignacio Holtz, right, has helped save lives with an organ donation program.
Working with the Heart 2 Heart program, a decade long collaboration among clubs in Mexico and the United States, Holtz led efforts to provide 10 disadvantaged young people with kidney transplants. The program has since saved more than 500 lives, with help from six global grants from The Rotary Foundation and matching funds from Sólo por Ayudar, a local nonprofit.
Holtz and members of his club work with local hospitals to screen potential donors and recipients, negotiate rates, and offer logistical support to participating families.
The inspiring stories of recovered patients motivate Holtz to keep giving. Holtz is still in touch with the first patient they helped, then a 15-year-old girl whose uncle donated a kidney to keep her alive. The project covered the fees for the operations, and today she is the healthy mother of a young daughter.
“It took me some time to discover the miracles that Rotary can achieve. By multiplying what we give, The Rotary Foundation gives us the opportunity to make a better world,” says Holtz.
Take a moment to reflect on how you can help and then go out and change a life -- for good.
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