Rotary District opens million-dollar campaign

October 11, 2020

Rotarians in eastern South Carolina are invited to take part in a new $1 million campaign supporting the Rotary Foundation – the international service club’s charitable endowment that underwrites programs for world understanding and peace.

Members of Capital Rotary got details at their Oct. 7 Zoom meeting from guest speaker Ione Cockrell (in photo), a past president now part of a 21-person team seeking major donations throughout District 7770. Cockrell said the campaign’s aim is new contributions of at least $10,000 per donor, either as a current major gift or as a bequest through estate planning.

All donations will be used in Foundation areas of focus including basic education and literacy, peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, economic and community development, and supporting the environment. Campaign leaders come from all geographic areas in the district; each has committed personally to a major gift or bequest.

The district comprises about 5,000 Rotarians in 80 clubs across half the state. Cockrell said the campaign concludes with a Million-Dollar Dinner planned for May 2021 in Charleston, featuring Rotary International president Holger Knaack of Germany. Cockrell is a certified financial planner who joined Capital Rotary in 1993.