Letter to the Editor: David Walker on Eastchester Rotary Club's Campaign to Eradicate Polio

Sep. 17, 2014:

To the Editor:

The Rotary Club of Eastchester wants to thank Cornell Hardware, specifically John III and Judy Fix, for allowing us to collect funds for Rotary International "Wear a Crocus and End Polio Now" campaign.

On Saturday, September 6, members of the Rotary Club of Eastchester spent the morning speaking with customers coming to Cornell's about this debilitating disease and seeking donations to help eradicate polio from the world.

With the community's generosity, the Rotary Club of Eastchester will make a donation of $344.00 to be matched 2x ($688) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a total contribution of $1,032 to End Polio Now.

In the 1980s, Rotary International began planning to immunize the world's children against polio. With a pledge to raise $120 million, the Polio Plus Program was announced in October 1985 at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations.

By 1988, Rotary raised $247 million, twice the amount pledged. This effort inspired the World Health Assembly to issue a resolution to eradicate polio. Polio was endemic in more than 125 countries on five continents at that time.

Fast-forward to today, and polio is endemic in only three countries, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, with only 412 new cases reported worldwide in 2013. Rotary International, with its partners World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has spent $1.2 billion in an effort to eradicate polio.

If you see one of your neighbors wearing a purple crocus, know that they helped eradicate this disabling disease from the world.

Service Above Self,

David Walker
President, Eastchester Rotary Foundation