Our 1.2 million-member organization started with the vision of one man—Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905, as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.

 

The Melissa Rotary Club was chartered in 2010 and started with 12 charter members. The first organizational meetings were held in the Barker House.  The club was formed as a satellite club of the Downtown McKinney Rotary. David Dorman, former Melissa Mayor, was the liaison as the person that helped get our club started. Over time, meetings moved to Hale Hall at the Christian Church, the City Hall, Maria’s Restaurant on Hwy 5, and First Melissa Church. We relocated to the MISD campus in 2016. Melissa Rotary continues to adapt meeting times and space to fit the needs of the changing community and club. 
 
Student scholarships and involvement has been an integral part of the Club, including chartering an Interact Club at the High School.  Since the beginning, many needs have been met, from hands-on help for people in need in the area, to city projects and international needs.  By 2012 the club started the flag program and it continues to be a major community project, not only raising donations for service, and generating community spirit, but also supporting contracting organizations such as Scouts and youth organizations who help distribute flags. 
 
In our early beginnings we had members representing the City Leadership, MISD Leadership, along with staff, and other civic and business leaders. Our first President was Nadia Tayrari, local Dentist. Over the years the leadership has been represented by civic leaders, independent business men and women, and others who value service above self. We have members from all walks of life. 
 

Rotarians have not only been present for major events in history—we’ve been a part of them. From the beginning, three key traits have remained strong throughout Rotary:

Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today we’re working together from around the globe both digitally and in-person to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.

During WWII, Rotary clubs in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Japan were forced to disband. Despite the risks, many continued to meet informally and following the war’s end, Rotary members joined together to rebuild their clubs and their countries.

We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. By 2012, only three countries remain polio-endemic—down from 125 in 1988.

Rotarians are your neighbors, your community leaders and some of the world’s greatest leaders: