Local Rotary Club asks for help eradicating polio
Rotary members in Mount Prospect, Des Plaines and Prospect Heights are taking action on World Polio Day, Oct. 24, to raise awareness, funds and support to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.
Members of the Rotary Club of River Cities (serving Mount Prospect, Des Plaines and Prospect Heights) are asking friends and members of the community to join them to end polio by making a donation at www.endpolio.org/donate.
We're closer than ever to eradicating polio, but we're not done yet. Your donation helps Rotary and its partners reach every child with the polio vaccine. Thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, your contribution will be tripled, getting us even closer to a polio-free world.
Established by the Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, the medical researcher who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio, World Polio Day has been observed for over a decade.
When Rotary International and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio every year in 125 countries. Great progress has been made since then, with polio cases reduced 99.9 percent and just two countries now reporting cases: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress, continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine and prevent its return. Rotarians worldwide have contributed $2.1 billion to ending polio since 1985, and are now committed to raising $50 million each year to support eradication efforts.
The Rotary Club of River Cities is hosting hybrid club meetings to continue meeting through COVID-19. The first three Mondays of the month are held at noon in-person at the Old Orchard Country Club, 700 W. Rand Road in Mount Prospect. Those who prefer virtual meetings can call into the Zoom meeting at 12:30 p.m.
For information, visit www.rivercitiesrotary.com and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RotaryRiverCities.
To learn more about Rotary and the fight to eradicate polio, visit endpolio.org.
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