The Rotary Club of Langley’s 17th regular meeting of this Rotary year was held on October 24, 2019. President Wayne called the meeting to order and gave his official welcome, reminding us that our Rotary theme this year is Rotary Connects the World. We are working to help the world by fighting polio, and tonight we have a special program to bring us up-to-date on the subject.
Our guest speaker was Rachel Sledding, the Director of Development at Wagner Hills. As a daughter of a Missions Pastor she grew up in a family where they lived with a passion of helping others and a call to serve. In her own words, “I am excited to be part of an organization that brings healing, growth and transformation to those in addiction. Thank you for having me share with you.”
Rachel spoke about the work done at Wagner Hills and the success rate they have with the addicts who come to them. As a club we are invited to visit Wagner Hills and plan to do so in the spring. Members were very impressed with the presentation and the program they offer.
Then we moved on to the topic of polio eradication on World Polio Day and the program featured our own Brendan Martin and Veronica Lopez, with technical assistance from Claudia Trigo. Rotary, in cooperation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has done so much to eradicate this disease, and we have much to be proud of. Descriptions, numbers and facts were shared with on-screen graphics. We realize, though, that because the wild polio virus is still endemic in two countries, we must be vigilant and continue our fight. We are “this close” to ridding the world of polio and protecting all the children of the world from this terrible disease.
We collected generous happy and sad dollars for Polio Plus and closed the meeting with a toast to Canada. Thank you to Claudia, Veronica, and Brendan for their excellent presentation. To see more photos please visit October 24, 2019.