Club to host World Polio Day livestream on Oct. 24 to give updates on polio campaign
World Polio Day may be coming up on October 24, but the Rotary Club of Wilsonville has already been hard at work fighting for polio eradication.
The club raised $7,159 for End Polio Now this summer, most of it from community contributions at the Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts. Club members also contributed after the series to help boost the total, thereby exceeding a $7,000 club goal for the 2021–22 Rotary year. In all, the Wilsonville club has raised more than $87,000 since it first started tracking its polio fundraising in 2007. It is consistently one of the top fundraising clubs in the area.
“Polio is a signature cause for Rotary and especially for our club,” said Curt Kipp, president of the Rotary Club of Wilsonville and co-chair of the Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts. “I am proud of our club, and the Wilsonville community, for being such a strong and consistent supporter of this impactful cause.”
The club will host a livestream at 5 p.m. Sunday, October 24, which will include the latest Rotary Global Update on the fight against polio. The program will be viewable on the club’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/WilsonvilleRotary), as well as on Zoom (www.tinyurl.com/PolioDay97070).
Rotarian John Holley co-chairs the Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts and serves as the club’s point person for The Rotary Foundation fundraising.
“We have the opportunity to eradicate a communicable disease for the second time in history, after smallpox,” Holley said. “We will do that by vaccinating young children so they will develop immunity and not acquire or spread the disease. Each child we immunize is another that will never have to face paralysis, disability or even death because of polio. If our efforts are thorough enough, no child anywhere will ever face that threat again.”
The funds being raised this year by Rotary clubs worldwide are being matched two-for-one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, up to the amount of $150 million. In the case of the Wilsonville club, this means the $7,159 raised will be tripled and will have $21,477 worth of impact.
“Our vaccination workers are on the front lines in remote areas, because that’s what it takes to prevent future polio cases,” Kipp said. “The fight against polio has been so successful that it’s considered eradicated everywhere except Afghanistan and Pakistan, so now we have to close the deal and eradicate it in those places, as well. Many of us know people who suffered the effects of polio long ago, when it was commonplace in the United States. We can stop that from ever happening again.”
About Polio
Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines, but it is not curable. Unlike most diseases, polio can be eradicated.
For more than 30 years, Rotary and our partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Our PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale. As a core partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary focuses on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and awareness-building.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
When Rotary and its partners formed the GPEI in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, we have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Because of the efforts of Rotary and its partners, nearly 19.4 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died. The infrastructure we helped build to end polio is also being used to treat and prevent other diseases (including COVID-19) and create lasting impact in other areas of public health.
Rotary and our partners have made tremendous progress against polio, but eliminating all cases is going to take even more progress and perseverance. Afghanistan and Pakistan face unique challenges, including political insecurity, highly mobile populations, difficult terrain, and, in some instances, vaccine refusal and misinformation. With sufficient resources, the commitment of national governments, and innovations that improve access to remote areas, we are optimistic that we can eliminate polio.
About Rotary
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 36,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping those in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. Through Rotary’s disease treatment and prevention programs, members educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. For more information, visit Rotary.org
About the Rotary Club of Wilsonville
The Rotary Club of Wilsonville was founded in 1975 and is dedicated to friendship and service projects. The club carries out several signature service projects throughout the year, including the innovative Through A Child’s Eyes program at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the annual Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts, several Good Eggs omelet and pancake breakfasts throughout the year, the Wilsonville First Citizen awards program, and much more. The club meets weekly, Thursdays at noon, and has 35 members. Log on to www.wilsonvillerotary.com for more information.