ROTARY ROSE PARADE FLOAT:
This is our 36th consecutive entry!
This year the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee’s entry into the 2015 Tournament of Roses parade focuses on Rotary projects that give communities the ability to develop and maintain sustainable water and sanitation systems and support studies related to water and sanitation.
For millions of people throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, getting clean water is a daily struggle. In fact, more than 80% of all sickness in the world is attributed to unsafe water. Nearly 1 billion people are without access to improved water sources and every 8 seconds, a child dies because of this crisis. Rotary Club members join together to provide clean water and sanitation to literally save lives!
The need is significant: Proper hand washing with soap and water can reduce diarrhea cases by up to 50 percent. 783 million people don’t have clean drinking water. Six hours per day is spent by women in some rural parts of Africa collecting water from a remote source.
Primary activities undertaken by Rotary Clubs seek to: Improve sanitation facilities by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure; Promote good hygiene habits through education; Implement rain water harvesting systems to collect and store rainwater for drinking or recharging underground aquifers; and, Build wells to extract groundwater from underground aquifers.
This year’s Float name "Changing Lives through Clean Water" was chosen to tell the world about Rotary's successful projects to provide clean water throughout the world.
The Float shows a water well with candles lighting the way to clean water. This is just one of many ways that we reflect Rotary International’s President Gary Huang’s theme for 2014-2015 of “Light Up Rotary.” Rotarians provide water and sanitation to needy world-wide populations. Every project is a spark that will inspire others to do provide another spark that will “Light Up Rotary.”
How the Float Theme Relates to Parade Theme
Rotary International President Gary Huang’s theme is “Light Up Rotary.” The Tournament of Roses Parade’s theme is “Inspiring Stories.” One of Rotary’s most inspiring stories, and one of Rotary’s areas of focus, is the work we do around the world to bring clean water and sanitation to millions of those who lack these basic and vital resources. More than 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. It is reported that at least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water.
With this in mind the name of our 2015 float entry is “Changing Lives Through Clean Water.” Many Rotary clubs participate in water projects around the world. The live audience at the parade route and the millions of television and web viewers will learn the float riders and outwalker’s inspiring stories as each have participated in a water service project in far-reaching areas of the globe.