History of the Rotary Club Budapest-City

The Rotary Club Budapest-City was chartered on 21 July, 1995 as Club No. 30,962 of Rotary International.

The club became the 13th in Hungary and the 5th in Budapest. At the time of the charter the club had 31 members of which 7 were female, an unusually high percentage for the time. The club’s main goal was (and still is) to service the expat community of Budapest and this is evident from the various nations represented amongst its membership till this day. The club now counts itself as part of 55 clubs working in Hungary.

Service has been at the heart of the club since its charter. Projects have included supporting local orphanges and children’s hospitals to engaging the club’s international connections and partnering with others to deliver projects in Egypt, United States, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. Hungary is neighboured by seven countries and Budapest-City is proud to have at one point had partners and projects in all of them.

Rotary Club Budapest-City is very active in hosting foreign exchange students and normally takes on two per year which includes a reciprocal exchange for two Hungarian students. In past years the club has hosted students from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand. Students attend local school during their one year stay and the club places them with 3-4 families whilst supporting them in their development and integration. For the 2014/15 year, Budapest-City decided to sponsor an orphan student to go to Mexico for a full school year. Normally students should cover air fare, personal insurance, local travel costs etc. however in this case, the club decided to pay all costs involved.

Budapest-City has accepted to take part in a partnership with other Rotary Clubs with the purpose of carrying out larger community service projects. The partnership gives the Rotarians of both clubs the opportunity to serve not only their own community but those abroad.