We are in the final stage of seeking volunteers for selling rubber Ducky tickets at our venues for the race on October 1st. Service Above Self Opportunities on the following date:
September 9, (Saturday) at Waterworks at Waukegan and Willow from 10:30-12 noon. One volunteer needed.
September 11, (Monday) at Mariano's Willow and Sanders from 2:30-4. Two volunteers needed.
September 13, (Wednesday) at Starbucks Waukegan and Lake-Cook from 10:30-12 noon. Two volunteers needed.
September 18, (Monday) at the Jewel on Willow and Pfingston from 2:30-4. Two volunteers needed.
Anyone volunteering should sign up in Sign Up Genius. Bring friends, family, co-workers to sell with you!! So far twenty-one plus Rotarians have either attended a venue or are scheduled to attend a venue. Our funds support incredible projects around the world!
Service Above Self Creates Happiness....but there's more!!
Sandy shares this...
Good to share with our members and suggest they share with friends....maybe using the Who you Gonna Callpiece I've been promoting. Volunteering in late life may protect the brain, research finds. Volunteering in late life is associated with better cognitive function, new research has found.
Please join the Northbrook Rotary in supporting children’s literacy by donating gently used children’s books to Bernie’s Book Bank during our Community Book Drive on September 22nd at the Meadow Shopping Plaza between 10am and 2pm.
The book drive will be a drive-through event between 10am and 2pm at the Meadow Shopping Plaza, 1977 Cherry Lane in the Farmer’s Market corner. Please bring your gently used children’s books and drop them off. Volunteers will be on hand to help remove books from your car.
Bernie’s Book Bank provides free quality books to children to build personal libraries. They source, process, and distribute 8 free books annually to children ages birth through sixth grade. This event fulfils one of Rotary’s 7 Areas of Focus: Basic Education and Literacy
Food Pantry Donations by Club Members -First Tuesday Meeting of Every Month.
Reminder from Helen
No one should ever have to be hungry-ever! Several years ago, prior to COVID, Northbrook Rotary had a commitment. Individuals brought a grocery bag filled with needed food for the Northfield Food Pantry to meetings.
The needs are still great. Shiva Mohsenzadeh, Supervisor of Northfield Township shared with us at a recent meeting the frequency of empty shelves. Some items are so popular that there is never enough.
We are very fortunate. Our bellies are satisfied. We are blessed with abundance.
Let’s continue a commitment that we have. Bring a bag of groceries to the first meeting of the month. It is so easy. When you shop just pick up an extra jar of peanut butter or pancake mix or cereal. Below is a list of most needed items for the food pantry:
Pancake Baking mix
Snacks (crackers, granola bars, pears, mandarin oranges in juice)
Our next Northbrook Rotary Satellite Club service project is a Gratitude Generation (g2) program called Shop & Share benefiting the Northfield Township Food Pantry on September 28th.
What: The challenge is to shop for a family of 4, three meals a day, for a week with a $60 budget. Can you get healthy, nutritious food within that budget? Food insecurity is real in our area and we are going to work to support those in need.
We will meet for dinner at 5 pm (*If interested and available, arrive at 5:00 for dinner. Our dinner will be pre-ordered through Jodi, ready when you arrive and you will pay for your meal upon picking it up at the counter. Here is the menu for selecting your order: https://www.dengeos.com/menu/
Who: Adults and kids over 8ish
When: Thursday, September 28, 2023
Time: *Dinner: 5:00 (pre-order through Jodi)
Program 5:30sharp - about 8:00 pm
Where: Meet at Dengeos Glenview located at 2131 Willow Road, Glenview – for a presentation, shopping.
Then: move to Aldi Glenview located at 2195 Willow Road, Glenview – for shopping
Lastly: drive to Northfield Township Food Pantry – located at 2550 Waukegan Road, Suite 100, Glenview to deliver donations.
Cost:Suggested donation of $20 per person to cover cost of groceries, optional
Details to follow through on in advance: *If interested and available, arrive at 5:00 for dinner. Our dinner will be pre-ordered through Jodi at , ready when you arrive and you will pay for your meal upon picking it up at the counter. Here is the menu for selecting your order: https://www.dengeos.com/menu/
5:00 PM Dengeos – pre-ordered dinner
5:30 PM Dengeos
The presentation will begin promptly at 5:30. Those that have signed up will be put in groups of 3, if not already a family or group of 3 or 4. After the presentation, each group will work together on meal planning (paperwork provided) and pre-shopping notes for our next location.
6:30 PM Aldi
We will go across the street to Aldi where each group will get a shopping cart and a $60 gift card to use for the challenge. Shopping will take roughly 40 minutes. When all groups have finished shopping, we will continue on to our last location, the Northfield Township Food Pantry to deliver our donations. We will unload and pre-sort the food for refrigeration, freezing or pantry shelves.
Other information: Bring a calculator, if not on your cell phone. You will receive meal plan worksheets and pencils. Please bring your reusable shopping bags! Aldi does not provide free bags. We will deliver the food to the pantry and you will get your bags back.
Action: To sign up, email Jodi, jojo3735@comcast.net and indicate who will be in your group and their ages (if children). You may sign up by yourself and will be placed in a group with other amazing volunteers!
If you choose to join us for dinner, please use the menu link above and include your meal selection in your email (or get back to me later).
If you will be donating the $20 per person, I would love to receive it in advance but if not possible, please bring cash along to the event.
Thank you! Looking forward to another meaningful and impactful service project together!
Man Known as ‘Polio Paul’ Survives 70 Years in an Iron Lung Despite Being Paralyzed From the Neck Down
He now holds the world record for longest-running iron lung patient in history
Published 09/01/23 12:36 PM ET|Updated 09/01/23 02:11 PM ET
Elizabeth Urban
Texas man known as “Polio Paul” has now spent more than 70 years living inside an iron lung.
Paul Alexander, also known as “Polio Paul,” contracted polio in 1952 when he was just 6 years old, just three years before the vaccine was invented. As polio attacks motor neurons in the spinal cord, Alexander was left paralyzed from the neck down and was unable to breathe without assistance.
Alexander was named as the longest-running iron lung patient by the Guinness World Records earlier in 2023.
Alexander underwent an emergency tracheostomy after his diagnosis and was placed into an iron lung, an airtight machine that covers the entire body except for the head and allows the patient to breathe by using negative pressure to draw in oxygen and expand their lungs, as reported by the Mirror.
For the most part, iron lungs are no longer in use and have not been manufactured since the 1960s due to more modern technology, but Alexander plans to stick with the machine due to its familiarity and because he does not want to undergo the procedures necessary to use more modern treatments.
Instead, he learned a technique called “frog breathing,” where he uses the throat muscles to swallow oxygen and push the air into his lungs, enabling him to breathe outside of the iron lung, according to a 2020 interview with The Guardian.
Iron Lung Overview: The iron lung is a horizontal cylinder in which a patient is laid with their head protruding out of a hole so that it is exposed to ambient air.
The rest of the body is sealed within the tank where negative pressure is cycled causing the chest to expand which stimulates breathing. It was invented by Philip Drinker in 1927 which is why it's often referred to as the Drinker tank. Another common name for the iron lung that you may have heard is a tank ventilator.
Iron Lung for Polio The iron lung is often associated with the polio epidemic because it was used to treat these patients during the outbreaks of the 1940s and 50s. During this time, rows of iron lung tanks filled hospitals across the United States. A patient with polio often experienced a paralyzed diaphragm which would require that they spent up two weeks inside of the iron lung for ventilatory support while recovering from the disease.
Thankfully, polio vaccinations were created which eradicated the spread of poliomyelitis. And, as modern medicine continued to progress, the iron lung was eventually phased out thanks to the development of positive pressure mechanical ventilator machines.
Living inside a canister: Dallas polio survivor is one of few people left in U.S. using iron lung
Paul Alexander is a living reminder of a time when fears of the crippling, infectious disease gripped the nation and parents kept kids away from playmates, public pools and birthday parties for so much as a sniffle.
Paul Alexander has spent much of his life in a can, a childhood victim of a once-epidemic disease that menaced the nation and now leaves him at the mercy of a mechanical respirator. Though unable to move from the neck down, he refused to be limited by his metal prison, finding success in both the classroom and the courtroom.
As he walked in, dripping and muddy, he said, he let the screen door slam — an act that would normally draw scolding from his mom, who was mopping the kitchen.
Instead, she saw him and her face froze. "Oh, my God," he remembers her saying.
She told Paul to run out and get his shoes. When he came back in, she cleaned him up and told him to go to bed.
"She knew instantly," he says. He still wonders how.
He was pampered. His parents brought him crayons and coloring books featuring his beloved cowboys. It was pretty great, though he had the sense something wasn't right. And so he colored, page after page, like there would be no tomorrow.
The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio Paperback – June 5, 2018
by Forrest Maready
A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease—polio—told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard of disease began paralyzing so many children—usually starting in their legs, sometimes moving up through their abdomen and arms. For an unfortunate few, it could paralyze the muscles that allowed them to breathe. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s?
Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors? Why were animals so often paralyzed during the early epidemics when it was later discovered most animals could not become infected?
The Moth in the Iron Lung is a fascinating biography of this horrible paralytic disease, where it came from, and why it disappeared in the 1950s. If you’ve never explored the polio story beyond the tales of crippled children and iron lungs, this book will be sure to surprise.
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio Paperback – January 1, 1996
In a riveting story of courage and hope, Peg Kehret writes about months spent in a hospital when she was twelve, first struggling to survive a severe case of polio, then slowly learning to walk again.
Peg Kehret was stricken with polio when she was twelve years old. At first paralyzed and terrified, she fought her way to recovery, aided by doctors and therapists, a loving family, supportive roommates fighting their own battles with the disease, and plenty of grit and luck.
With the humor and suspense that are her trademarks, acclaimed author Peg Kehret vividly recreates the true story of her year of heartbreak and triumph.
Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung Hardcover – April 13, 2020
Contrary to popular belief Polio is not extinct. This is the true story of an indomitable spirit afflicted with unimaginable physical and psychological challenges. Paul Alexander's life is a saga that started in 1946 and has been profoundly shaped by the Polio epidemic of the early 1950's. Survivors of the 1950's Polio Epidemic in America are rare. Polio victims, like Paul Alexander, who require the assistance of an "Iron Lung" respirator for their life's breath are even rarer. Paul Alexander has crafted his life against all odds and has a courageous and compelling story to share with us all.
Victims of Polio, their families, friends and communities are struggling to cope with this obscure but still dangerous infectious disease.
This book is a testimony to the strength of the human spirit and an affirmation of the need to continue efforts to eradicate the pestilence of Polio from the planet.
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