Photo courtesy Shellie Peterson
Rotary Club members will be ringing bells on World Polio Day, Friday, Oct. 24, at City Market to inspire local generosity in the effort to end polio worldwide. Pictured are Rotarians Pat Love and Melanie Garrett during last year’s fundraiser.
On World Polio Day, Friday, Oct. 24, members of the Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs will be at City Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., ringing bells and collecting donations as part of Rotary’s global effort to eradicate polio.
This annual fundraiser coincides with World Polio Day, a time when Rotarians, health advocates, and community leaders come together to recognize progress in the fight against this crippling disease and to rally support for the final push to end polio once and for all.
“We’re closer than ever to wiping polio off the face of the earth, but we can’t stop until the job is done,” said Polio committee chair Sam Pittmon. “Polio anywhere is a threat everywhere. The people of Archuleta County have always been generous, and together we can make history by helping end only the second human disease ever eradicated.”
All donations made to the Rotary Club’s polio efforts are matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, tripling the impact. Community members may donate in person during Sunday’s bell-ringing event, online at endpolio.org, or by mailing a contribution made out to The Rotary Foundation and mailed to the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club, P.O. Box 685, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147.
Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative—including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and the Vaccine Alliance—have worked for decades to rid the world of polio. Since 1988, cases have dropped by 99.9 percent, thanks to more than $5 billion in contributions and countless volunteer hours. Today, wild polio remains endemic in just Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Rotary alone has contributed more than $2.9 billion to this effort and remains committed to raising up to $50 million each year through 2029. With the Gates Foundation’s continued 2-to-1 match, that support can generate up to $150 million annually for vaccines, immunization campaigns, and disease surveillance.
There are many reasons to support the fight to end polio now. Polio causes paralysis and can sometimes lead to death, and it mainly affects children under the age of five. While there is no cure, the disease is entirely preventable with a vaccine. Today, only two countries remain endemic, but until polio is eradicated everywhere, every child around the world remains at risk.
Rotary invites the people of Pagosa Springs to take part in this global humanitarian mission. As Pittmon noted, “Every dollar, every child vaccinated, and every voice raised brings us one step closer to a world free of polio.”
For more information about Rotary and the fight to end polio, visit Rotary.org or endpolio.org.
Photo courtesy Shellie Peterson
On World Polio Day, Friday, Oct. 24, members of the Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs will be at City Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., ringing bells and collecting donations as part of Rotary’s global campaign to eradicate polio. Shown are Rotarians Jim Garrett and Larry McClintock taking part in last year’s event.