The Rotary Club of High River held two successful fundraising events in October.
On Oct. 20, the High River Rotarians brought food for a pot-luck End-Polio meal, saving money on a caterer that evening. They still paid a $20 meeting fee, but this went to Rotary International’s polio-eradication campaign. Also, fun games followed to raise more funds. The total for Polio Plus was $2,680.
The guest speaker was Dan Doherty, a past president of the Rotary Club of Calgary West and incoming District 5360 Governor. He gave a presentation on volunteering with a polio-immunization team in Ethiopia, East Africa.
Dan was emotional when he showed a photo of him immunizing a young child against polio with the oral vaccine developed by Albert Sabin. With two of Rotary’s partners, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, the team vaccinated 10,000 children in two days.
Dan said, when Rotary first became involved in polio eradication in the 1980s, there were 380,000 polio cases reported. Now the number is down to about 10 in the remaining endemic countries that are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dan’s challenge to all Rotarians is to find a way to get to zero.
I Love Art show and sale
The Rotary Club of High River held its 4th biennial I Love Art gala event at the High River Autoplex and RV showroom on Oct. 20. The location was courtesy of the business owner, Rotarian Doug McLaughlin. Entrance fees, as well as a portion of the art sales, benefited Foothills Search and Rescue, High River Handi-Bus and the High River District Health Care Foundation for the renovation of the maternity ward at High River Hospital. This fun event raised approximately $15,000.
The Rotary club’s I Love Art show was featured on the front page of the Oct. 24 edition of the High River Times with “Art Expression” being the headline over the large photograph. There were more photos of the gala event on page 10.