RI and District 7390 Renewed Effort to Eradicate Polio

 

While our efforts have been concentrated over the past few weeks and months on the novel coronavirus and the problems it has wrought within our communities, the issue of polio and its ongoing fight by Rotary to help eliminate this disease has continued. Our vaccination programs have in many areas been brought to a standstill since larger gatherings or house to house visitation to vaccinate children has had to be suspended. The fear is that, once we have dealt with the coronavirus, we may well see a resurgence of polio cases throughout the world, which would be a setback to our efforts over these past few years.

 

To help ensure that this does not happen, we in Rotary need to be ready and that means we have to support our commitment to this fight with some much needed resources. Indeed we now know that giving to Polio Plus over these last few months has decreased as resources have been channeled more into the fight against COVID and the personal ability of some Rotarians to give generously has been impacted by the economic situation.

 

 

In this brief presentation we will hear from both Mike McGovern, who is our Rotary International Polio chair and Trustee Julia Phelps from the Rotary Foundation. And the aim, as you can see is to get at least 50% of Rotarians to give the amount that they would have paid for lunch that day, to the Polio Plus fund. We believe that this can be done in District 7390 which would mean some 1,100 members giving to this important work.

 

So I would ask you to publicize this effort. Encourage your members to participate. Stress the importance of our work in this area and show how, through this effort, Rotary will also continue to Connect the World.

 

Thank you,

 

DG Paddy Rooney