Important Milestones
1918 - Cosmopolitan International was founded in Kansas City, Missouri by Attorney Patrick J. Hodgins who organized it as a business classification networking club reputed to be the first of its kind in the United States.
1924 - The Norfolk Club has been contributing civic service to Hampton Roads since it was chartered.
1958 - The Cosmopolitan Club of Norfolk Foundation, Inc. was organized and chartered as a non-profit corporation devoted entirely to charitable efforts with the major source of revenue coming from individual contributions, and various fund-raising projects conducted by our members.
1973 - Cosmopolitan International decided to make the campaign against diabetes mellitus their principal challenge for the future.
1983 - The Cosmopolitan International Diabetes Center was dedicated at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
1985 - The Norfolk Club and its sister clubs of the Capital Federation helped spearhead the “Million Dollar Connection” to raise $1,000,000 for diabetes research to establish the Strelitz Diabetes Center at EVMS. Our goal of $1,000,000 was met.
1999 - The Cosmopolitan International pledged/donated $750,000 to fund INGAP at EVMS and McGill University, Canada. Our goal of $750,000 was met.
2024 - The Cosmopolitan International pledged $1,000,000 to fund stem cell research for diabetes.
We are one of 58 clubs located in the areas of the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest, Mid-West and Western Canada. In 1985, the Norfolk Club and its sister clubs of the Capital Federation helped spearhead the “Million Dollar Connection” to provide the million dollars of seed money to start a diabetes institute for research and treatment at Eastern Virginia Medical School, known today as the Strelitz Diabetes Research Center.
