Miss Vicky and her owner, Dr. Lee Harman, a stalwart in the campaign to eradicate polio around the world was our guest speaker on Friday, May 30th. Dr. Harman and Miss Vicky have crossed continents to raise funds for the PolioPlus campaign, on two occasion raising $47,000 on each tour. Those two rallies were the Beijing, China to Paris, France Rally and the Anchorage, Alaska to Cabo San Lucas Rally. Miss Vicky is a 1931 A Vintage Ford Victoria.
The goal of Polio Plus is to vaccinate every child. Dr. Harman stated that polio does not mutate. Before 1984, there were 350,000 paralytic cases every year with 50,000 deaths each year. Since 1988, we've seen a worldwide reduction in polio cases of 99.99%. Only two countries remain polio-endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Gates Foundation and their generosity will match each dollar donated to the Rotary Foundation Polio Plus Program on a 2:1 match. The Rotary Foundation has donated over $2.6 billion dollars to the eradication of polio worldwide.
A little bit about Dr. Lee Harman. He is a 40 year member of the Arlington Rotary Club, a member of the Arch Klumph Society. Members of the Arch Klumph Society donate $250,000 or more to the Rotary International Foundation. Thank you Dr, Harman for all you do for Rotary and your efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Keep the Miss Vicky campaign going.