This is how Rotary responded to the influenza pandemic that began in 1918 and came in three waves, lasting more than a year.

• In 1918, Rotarians in Sacramento and Berkeley, California, USA, held their meetings outdoors to comply with a local restriction on enclosed meetings. In 2020, clubs have adapted by holding their meetings online to stay connected.
• In 1918, the Rotary Club of Kankakee, Illinois, USA, helped raise funds to buy a car for a Red Cross social worker to use in her trips around the country during the 1918 pandemic. In 2020, Rotary Clubs in District 3700 (Korea) donated $155,000 to the Red Cross. Then and now, our capacity to make a difference is larger when we work with others to create change.
• In 1918, more than two dozen Rotarians in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, worked with members of the Boy Scouts organization to quickly and effectively distribute flyers with guidance on how to prevent the spread of influenza. In 2020, the Rotary E-Club of Fenice del Tronto, based out of Italy, invited the public to its online meeting with a virologist who spoke about the coronavirus, how it spreads, and how to keep safe. In Nigeria, Rotary members in Akwa Ibom state conducted a campaign to raise awareness about the threat of coronavirus.
• In 1918, Rotarians in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, secured beds for emergency hospitals, volunteered as ambulance drivers, and assisted with a health survey of the city. The Rotary Club of Waterbury, Connecticut, USA, took similar steps, making a canvass of local flu cases and helping create a hospital. In 2020, Rotarians in Makati, Philippines, funded the construction of several emergency quarantine facilities, including a recovery center for COVID-19 patients from the Pasig City Children’s Hospital who no longer need intensive care. These recovery facilities help make space in hospitals for people who require more monitoring.
• In 1919, The Rotarian magazine reported that a “Rotary flu squad” in Great Falls, Montana, USA, “fought the ravages of the epidemic, not by hiring people to do the work for them, but by actually doing with their own hands whatever work needed to be done.” In 2020, the same community service spirit is being shown by the Rotary Club of Metro Bethesda, Maryland, USA, whose members contact neighbors who are isolating alone at home to ask how they are and if they need anything.

Articles in November / December issue of Milwaukee Ethnic News. These newsletters often list over 20 ethnic events and involve these groups (sampling):

Ojibwe, German, Jewish, African American, Welsh, Filipino, Armenian,  Mexican, French, Caribbean, Filipino, African, English, Indian, Southeast Asian, Croatian, Italian, Irish, Chinese, Ukrainian, American Indian, Latino, Kashubian, Quaker, International, and more