the Four Way test
At the heart of any Rotary Club you will find the Four Way Test.
In the early 1930s Herbert J. Taylor set out to save the Club Aluminum Products distribution company from bankruptcy. He believed himself to be the only person in the company with 250 employees who had hope. His recovery plan started with changing the ethical climate of the company. He explained:
“The first job was to set policies for the company that would reflect the high ethics and morals God would want in any business. If the people who worked for Club Aluminum were to think right, I knew they would do right. What we needed was a simple, easily remembered guide to right conduct - a sort of ethical yardstick- which all of us in the company could memorize and apply to what we thought, said and did.
I searched through many books for the answer to our need, but the right phrases eluded me, so I did what I often do when I have a problem I can't answer myself: I turn to the One who has all the answers. I leaned over my desk, rested my head in my hands and prayed. After a few moments, I looked up and reached for a white paper card. Then I wrote down the twenty-four words that had come to me:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned? I called it "The Four-Way Test" of the things we think, say or do."
In the 1940s, when Taylor was an international director of Rotary, he offered the Four Way Test to the organization, and it was adopted by Rotary for its internal and promotional use. Never changed, the twenty four word test remains today a central part of the permanent Rotary structure throughout the world, and is held as the standard by which all behaviour should be measured. The test has been promoted around the world and is used in myriad forms to encourage personal and business ethical practices. Taylor gave Rotary International the right to use the test in the 1940s and the copyright in 1954. He retained the rights to use the test for himself, his Club Aluminum Company and the Christian Workers Foundation.
Service above Self
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Service above self is the official motto of Rotary International. For our club putting service above self is central to why we have chosen form our club. We choose to give back to our community as group. As a group we are stronger together. As many we do what one cannot. Our overriding drive is be a force for good and change in our community and to inspire others to give back through the gift of service.
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Polio can be eliminated
Rotary believes that we can end the scourge of Polio. Through fund raising events, giving from individual and groups, and hard work Rotary is exceptional close to ending the scourge of Polio. We hope to see a day soon when no one has to live with this dreaded disease.
We believe in doing good world wide. That's why we believe in Rotary International. RI helps us do good by combine our individual talents, gifts, and work into global force for change. Through the Rotary Foundation are financial gifts are multiplied and shared on a larger scale than we could do individually.