During Happy Bucks/Club Business, Bill MacKay reminded the Club that November is Foundation Month. Each year, Rotary International selects up to 100 professionals from around the world to receive fellowships to study at one of Rotary's peace centers. Through academic training, practice, and global networking opportunities, the Rotary Peace Centers program develops leaders who become catalysts for peace and conflict prevention and resolution. These fellowships cover tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation and all internship and field-study expenses. In just over a decade, the Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,000 fellows for careers in peacebuilding. Many of them are serving as leaders at international organizations or have started their own foundations.
Each year the Rotary Foundation awards up to 50 fellowships for master's degrees and 50 for certificate studies at premier universities around the world. The master's degree programs last 15 to 24 months and require a practical internship of two to thee months during the academic break. The professional development certificate program for experienced professionals last three months with two to three weeks of field study. The Rotary Foundation also offers scholarships for secondary, undergraduate or graduate study for college graduates and professionals to study peace and conflict resolution or water and sanitation. On average, $7.5 million in scholarships are given out by Rotary each year. 350,000 scholarships have been awarded by Rotary. Rotary Clubs can apply to the Rotary Foundation for district and global grants to support scholarships. The global grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary's six causes:
- Promoting peace
- Fighting disease
- Providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene
- Saving mothers and children
- Supporting education
- Growing local economies