Rotary International downtown Chicago, United States, at Harris's friend Gustave Loehr's office in the Unity Building on Dearborn Street on February 23, 1905. In addition to Harris and Loehr (a mining engineer and freemason), Silvester Schiele (a coal merchant), and Hiram E. Shorey (a tailor) were the other two who attended this first meeting. The members chose the name Rotary because initially they rotated subsequent weekly club meetings to each other's offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting place. The next four Rotary Clubs were organized
Rotary International university based, and they are sponsored by a local Rotary club. This makes them true "partners in service" and key members of the family of Rotary. "Rotaract" stands for "Rotary in Action". The Rotary Community Corps (RCC) is a volunteer organization with an estimated 157,000 non-Rotarian men and women in over 6,800 communities in 78 countries. Rotary concentrates on six areas: promoting peace, improving health through disease prevention and treatment, improving the health of mothers and children, water and sanitation, education, and economic development. RYLA, or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, is a leadership program for young people aged 14 to