Rotary turns out for World Polio Day

The End Polio Now message illuminates the Old Opera House in Frankfurt, Germany. Photo courtesy of Heike Schwesinger

 

 

F rom walking to the White House to climbing the Himalayas, the family of Rotary turned out on 24 October, World Polio Day, to raise public awareness and support for ending the disease.

Nearly 1,000 Rotary clubs in Germany carried out a national fundraising campaign during the week of 19 October. Highlights included screenings of the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Final Inch in Berlin and Cologne, sales of a benefit CD set featuring international recording artists, and promotional support from Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Skyliners professional basketball team.

The Rotary Club of Hamburg-Hafencity, which was officially chartered 7 November, raised about US$29,700 through sales of the CD set. The Rotary Club of Berlin International, also chartered on that date, garnered $11,111 through a used cell phone drive, along with other activities.

The $355 million in grants awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to The Rotary Foundation “is a huge motivation for us to raise additional funds for the fight against polio,” said Gunnar Wöbke, CEO of the Deutsche Bank Skyliners and a member of the Rotary Club of Frankfurt/Main-Paulskirche.

Other fundraising efforts to help meet Rotary's $US200 Million Challenge included:

• Rotarians in Austria netted more than $297,000 for Rotary’s challenge by selling packets of sunflower seeds nationwide for $7.50 each.
• A World Polio Day Dinner sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Abilene, Abilene Wednesday, and Abilene Southwest, Texas, USA, and featuring RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith as a guest speaker, raised more than $50,000.
• District 7610 (Virginia, USA) coordinated a Final Inch for Polio Eradication Walk of 24.6 miles from Herndon to the White House, raising almost $10,000 for Rotary’s challenge.
• A bikeathon sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bali Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia, garnered $1,500.
• In Tanzania, a children’s band led more than 100 Rotarians and friends on a walk through the streets of Arusha to promote polio eradication.
• In an ongoing effort, the Rotary Club of Victoria, Texas, USA, is making “Join the Challenge, Stamp Out Polio” stamps available to clubs and districts in support of Rotary’s challenge. Order sheets of 10 for $10 each at www.victoriarotary.org/stamps.

For more information:

• Watch a video on Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio
• Donate now to help Rotary achieve a polio-free world.
• Learn more about the benefit Concert to End Polio on 2 December.