Posted by Laura Spear on Oct 15, 2018
October 24 is Rotary’s 5th annual World Polio Day. What are you and club doing to help eradicate polio?
 

To start, you can livestream Rotary International’s World Polio Day event, which is marking the occasion from the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, starting at 6:30 PM.  The event will highlight the steps being taken to reach Rotary’s goal of polio eradication. We’ll also celebrate 30 years of achievements by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

Closer to home, you can host your own viewing of the event, sponsor your own fundraiser, or participate in the events that neighboring clubs are running.  For example, the Brookline club has sponsored a video running on a screen outside in Coolidge Corner and asked pedestrians for donations. The Nashoba Valley club works with the schools in its regional school district to get donations from the students in exchange for a purple pinkie. To our north, the Gloucester club runs an annual polar plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter, raising thousands of dollars. Other clubs have sponsored races, “mic-athons,” and speaking events.

Per last week’s newsletter, District Governor Steve Sager is challenging all clubs in our District to conduct similar events so that we can collectively donate $25,000 to PolioPlus during the month of October.  That is an average of just $500 per club.  If we achieve that goal, Steve will participate in the Gloucester Polar Plunge in February 2019. (You can see his challenge flyer with photo on the district website!)

Additionally, the district will also award a pair of tickets to the limited-seating World Polio Day event.

Beyond October 24, you can donate to PolioPlus or participate in week-long National Immunization Days (NID) trips. Past participants include Phil Sanders of the Brookline club and most recently Susan Rack and Joyce Graff, also from the Brookline club. Sound interesting? Susan and Joyce would love to speak about their experience at club meetings.

To learn more about how you and your club can help eradicate polio, contact our District Polio Chair, Joyce Graff, or our Zone Polio Coordinator, Carol Toomey. You can also learn more at the End Polio page on the Rotary website. Let’s work together to donate $25,000 to PolioPlus from all of the clubs in District 7910!