Three Rotary Clubs Come Together to Raise Awareness for End Polio Now

photo by JOHN WOLLWERTH

Monday, October 24th, the birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccination against polio, was celebrated as World Polio Day. Pictured above are Rotarians from Beaufort’s three Rotary Clubs — the Rotary Club of Beaufort, the Lowcountry Rotary, and Sea Island Rotary. These Rotarians and others from the three clubs walked, ran, biked, or kayaked daily from July through October to raise awareness to highlight global efforts toward a polio-free world and to have their miles matched by donations.

Last year, Beaufort’s three Rotary clubs raised $12,781. The World Fund matched half of every dollar raised, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matched every dollar raised by two dollars, so the impact of Beaufort’s three Rotaries was nearly $45,000.

The district that includes Beaufort’s three Rotaries had a total impact of more than $1.1 million and ranked 8th among more than 500 Rotary districts.

Two Beaufort Rotarians, Frank Gibson and Ed Duryea, participated in a national immunization day in Nigeria, alongside Nigerian Rotarians, surrounded by armed guards around the clock, hiking eight miles to seek out and provide lifesaving drops to children under five with the goal of global polio eradication. Their selfless service inspired many local Rotarians.

The EndPolioNow campaign, sponsored by Rotary International, raises money to help eradicate the poliovirus. At the end of the 1980s, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed by polio every year. Today, Rotary and its partners have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9%. This year, there have been 29 wild poliovirus cases worldwide, with one variant polio paralyzing case in New York State.

To find out how you can help, ask any local Rotarian.