Newsletter 9-8-15

**Rotary Update After Meeting on September 8, 2015**

 

The meeting was opened by Pres. Rich with the Pledge of Allegiance; Bob Cocks led us in a great rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’, and, Rev. Darrell led us in the Blessing.

 

Visitors: Carl Good, our guest speaker, from the Merrimac Valley Rotary Club.

 

-Pres. Rich is seeking two volunteers to chair the Pancake Breakfast event this November. If he does not find one, he will appoint two people. So, give it some thought….

-Karen repeated that the Bandy-Heffler exchange is still looking for hosts. Contact Karen if you can host. This year it starts Sept. 29. See:

 

-Gift of Life is trying to get two children into the U.S. Looks like they will be successful with the 22 month old, after working through the State Department. The case of the 21 year old is so severe, they have been unable to find a Doctor who is willing to perform the huge amount of work required. Not as optimistic a view.

-Darrell went to Maine last weekend to distribute the backpacks our club has funded. He says it was a tremendous event. These children are from primarily Congo and Angola. They have refugee status and will be on Maine welfare for 3 months. This church needs to speak 7 languages!

 

 

                                             

                                         

 

 

-Bill Paulson says the dictionaries are on order, and that soon enough we will have an event to ‘stick and stack’ the labels into the dictionaries and stick them into boxes, before a Rotary meeting. This event is being funded by 4 sponsors:

          -Louise Condon Realty

          -Needham Bank

          -Family Federal Bank

          -Waddel and Reed

 

50/50:  Marty drew the correct number (421), but drew the wrong card. $322 in the pot.

 

Presidential Minute: This President was born on 9-15-1858; He was first Pres., then Chief Justice of the Supreme Count (which he enjoyed more); He weighed 355 pounds, to the point that one of the platforms he was on actually collapsed! President Taft.

 

Happy Dollars: Great to be here-Bob Cocks, Erica Bond, Jim Brown; Great to work with all the wonderful Rotarians!-Marty; Great Labor Day Weekend-Ken Davis, Tom Savino, Chuck Buyer, Doug George; Happy to be here-our guest speaker Carl Good; ‘Welcome Back’-Kathy Whitney; ‘grateful for names in the ‘Happy Dollars’ section of the bulletin-Ted Shaughnessy; Loving the work of Polio Plus, and the hot weather-Andy Winig; Thanks to all who contributed towards the ‘backpack’ project-Darrell; Libby hoping to be the successful bidder on a home inNH; Good luck to the Patriots-Bill Paulson, Charles Nelson.

 

Joke of The Week: A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute. "Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you did not give a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?" The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?" Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um, no." The lawyer interrupts, "Or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?" The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again. "Or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!" The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea." On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?"

 

Speaker:  Our guest speaker was Dr. Carl Good, A retired molecular geneticist, with studies in virology and disease detection, and who has been on polio immunization trips to Nigeria and Bangladesh. Clearly he knows and understands  polio, eradication of it, and Rotary has been spearheading this program for 30 years. Most of the world is now ‘Polio Free’ (meaning no reported cases in a country for 3 years), with Afghanistan and Pakistan being the remaining 2 countries which still need our help.

 

Dr. Good has been on several immunizing trips and actually worked to immunize and educate both the children and parents.

Our club has given thousands of dollars to this program over the years.

Rotary began fighting polio 30 years ago, and although our work has reduced the number of cases of the disease by 99 percent worldwide, new outbreaks and dangerous conditions make the total eradication of polio a constant challenge.

For example, in Côte d'Ivoire it's been over two years since the disease last surfaced. But with polio-endemic in nearby Nigeria, the possibility of a fresh outbreak looms over the country. The only way to keep the poliovirus at bay is to continue administering regular immunizations to all children under the age of five.

During National Immunization Days last year, 7.5 million children in Côte d'lvoire received two drops of oral polio vaccine, along with vitamin A supplements and de-worming tablets.

This accomplishment is underscored by our volunteers' willingness to put their lives at risk. Just last year, 20 polio vaccinators were killed in Pakistan.

 

"Polio eradication is not an option, it's an obligation," says Richmond-Ahoua, chair of Rotary's PolioPlus Committee in Côte d'lvoire. "When you consider what's been done in Côte d'lvoire, despite the many obstacles we've faced, you are deeply convinced that polio will soon be eradicated."

For more info go to: http://www.endpolio.org/

To donate to this program, just give a check to Ryan Damasso.

This also led to the fact that some Rotary Clubs have donated to the ‘Wheelchair Foundation’ where $75 will fund a wheelchair to a person in need in another country. This is especially useful for polio patients, and other folks in other countries. See:

Perhaps this is a project we can donate to !