For years, Southside Rotarians have worked to enrich the Tulsa community and spread goodwill throughout the world. In the true spirit of Southside, our members have innovated new ways to put service above self. These pioneers sparked several programs which have since spread to other Rotary groups. Their original vision now reaches far beyond Tulsa, beyond Oklahoma, and even beyond the borders the United States. Our Southside Rotary is in the business of changing the world.

Polio Plus

A Rotarian immunizes a child against polio. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo by Jean-Marc Giboux.

Decades ago, polio outbreaks were a constant threat around the world. After the introduction of polio vaccines by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin and a steadfast immunization effort, these outbreaks became part of history in most of the world.

Yet many still live under the threat of polio, which is why Rotary and its global partners are committed to reaching every child with the vaccine and ending this disease worldwide. Major gains have been made in the global fight against polio:

• In the 1980s, 1,000 children were infected by the disease every day in 125 countries. Today, polio cases have declined by 99 percent, with fewer than two thousand cases reported in 2006.
• Two billion children have been immunized, five million have been spared disability, and over 250,000 deaths from polio have been prevented.

Be Wise, Immunize!

A child receives a free immunization through Rotary’s Be Wise, Immunize! program.

Be Wise Immunize has helped provide immunizations for hundreds of children against dreaded diseases such as flu and smallpox. Originally parents paid as they could for these crucial health safeguards. As support for the program grew, they moved to offering free immunizations to any child. Organized by the late Bill Crews of Southside, Be Wise, Immunize! became the model for other Rotary clubs across the country. The Southside Rotary Club and its members continue to support the effort with volunteer hours and financial support.

The “Dixionary” (Dictionary) Project

Rotary’s “Dixionary” Project helps to pass on love of literature to a new generation.

Southsider Rotarian Stan Dixon had a dream of introduce third grade Tulsa students The World of Words. The first year of the project, Stan purchased dictionaries for every third grader at Springdale Elementary. The children lit up with excitement when they received the dictionaries; for some it was the first book they had ever been given.

Stan was inspired and wanted to bring that joy other children. His passion for the project lives on to this day. Each year Tulsa Southside Rotarians deliver dictionaries to third graders in over thirty of the Tulsa Public Schools. Stan’s contagious passion has spread to all area Rotary clubs and most in the 6110 District over a four state area. Every Tulsa Public Schools in the third grade now receives a dictionary with their name inside. Rotarians delivering the dictionaries say that it is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects they have ever been involved with.

Springdale Elementary School

Tulsa Southside Rotary adopted Springdale Elementary School at the request of David Hughes’ wife Leslie, a teacher at Springdale. Since then, the club has continued to play a very active role in Springdale’s advancement: reading to classes, painting playground equipment, mentoring individual students, handing out fruit and candy to students at Christmas, and helping wherever a need arises. Thanks in large part to Southside’s involvement with a special math program, the school was removed from the list of “at risk” schools.

Konani Water Well in Bolivia

In 1993 the Tulsa Southside Rotary Club drilled the second potable water well in the entire Altiplano (High Plain) area of Bolivia. In 1999, an elder of the village said that before the well was drilled, 20-30 children died each year.

Since 1993, the infant death rate has dropped to only 2-3 children each year.

Since 1993, the death rate has dropped to only 2-3 children each year. The elder believes that the total credit belongs to the well. In fact, he said that clean water has meant more to the health of the village and saved more lives then any doctor ever could.

After 15 years of faithful service, the Konani Water well is not producing as much water as it used to. Tulsa Southside Rotary is partnering with Engineers in Action to giving the old well some well-deserved TLC.

We are organizing the community to clean and reseal the water tank, adding new valves, switches and controls. And we are testing to see if we need to re-drill the well or replace the pipe which is ‘down the hole’.

Without the support of Tulsa Southside Rotary, this well would become inoperable and abandoned.