NEPONSET VALLEY SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB SEEKS SUPPORT TO FIGHT POLIO

Posted by Lisa Rubini 
on Oct 21, 2011
 

 
The Neponset Valley Sunrise (NVS) Rotary Club asks the community to join with them in the fight to eradicate polio from our world on “Purple Pinkie Day”. On Saturday, October 22, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Rotarians will be in front of Roche Brothers in Westwood, located at 338 Washington Street, to collect funds to help in their efforts to inoculate the children of the remaining four countries in the world with polio infections, so that this dreaded disease will never spread again. For any donation ($1.00 suggested), Rotarian volunteers will mark the pinkie finger of the donor with a purple marker to signify how children have their pinkie fingers dyed purple when they receive the polio inoculation.

 “Neponset Valley Sunrise Rotary Club has chosen October 22 for this fundraising event to mark and celebrate World Polio Day,” said Club President Brendan Gearty. “We are this close to eliminating polio,” Gearty said forming the “this close” gesture with his thumb and forefinger. “Rotarians worldwide will be raising awareness and funds this weekend in our effort to rid the world of this crippling disease.”

 Gearty added, “Our members want to share their commitment to this cause with community members. The table will be decorated with posters and we will have a cooler as our donation container, as the vaccine is transported and kept in coolers on inoculation trips. We want people to understand the seriousness of this cause and feel really great about supporting it.”

 Rotary International’s top philanthropic goal is to eradicate polio worldwide. When Rotary launched its Polio Plus program in 1985, there were over 350,000 cases of polio each year in over 125 countries. Today, annual cases of polio have been reduced by 99% in the number of infections worldwide, with only India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan remaining with infections.

 To date, Rotary has contributed nearly $800 million and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. These efforts are providing much needed operational support, medical personnel, laboratory equipment and educational materials for health workers and parents. In addition, Rotary has played a major role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $4 billion to the effort to eradicate polio. Rotary has raised approximately $190 million towards its most recent goal of $200 million to match a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

 

The Neponset Valley Sunrise Rotary has supported the youth and charitable organizations of our community and the Rotary Foundation’s efforts to enhance our world since 2001. The club represents the towns of Canton, Dedham, Foxborough, Medfield, Milton, Norfolk, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, and Westwood. For more information on Rotary, contact Joseph Pascarella at 781-718-3779.

 

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