LAPLACE — Rotary District 6840 in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi is spending the first 100 days of 2017 celebrating the centennial of The Rotary Foundation with a multi-faceted approach to serving the needs of this unique coastal region.

From as far west as LaPlace, Louisiana, to as far east as Moss Point, Miss., the 49 Rotary Clubs and its 2,100 Rotarians are providing, as their motto puts it, “Service Above Self.”

The Rotary Club of LaPlace plans to conduct a project called “Reading with Rotary” for the 100 days. LaPlace members will schedule a reading session in each of the 11 elementary schools in St. John the Baptist Parish, and each session will have Rotarians reading to the students for about an hour.

“We hope to engage all of our members in this project,” a local release stated.

The clubs in New Orleans and St. Charles Parish will be working on hunger. There are many others. All of this is in honor of the centennial of The Rotary Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation is the $1 billion charitable arm of Rotary International, the oldest, largest, and by all accounts, most effective service organization in the world, organizers said.

It funds numerous service projects every year in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi.

To mark the centennial, Rotary aims to raise $300 million by July for its campaign to eradicate polio and for other essential services in communities around the world.

In addition to its service projects District 6840 annually raises more than $200,000 in support of The Rotary Foundation activities here and around the world.

This year’s goal in honor of the centennial is $300,000.