Jacob Schrantz, financial officer for the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, raises his bike in triumph.

Oct. 24 marked the noting of World Polio Day for the more than 33,000 Rotary Clubs and their 1,250,000 members in every corner of the globe.

The Rotary Club of Jamestown saluted the day with help from Jake Schrantz, financial officer of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, who collected pledges for riding two bicycle circuits, one of 37 miles and one of 51 miles. The 37-mile ride honored Schrantz’ father-in-law Mike Stronz, a 37-year member of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, where he served as secretary for 30 years. The 51-mile ride honored Schrantz’ best friend and riding buddy John Silo, who died recently.

Schrantz’ efforts raised more than $1,400 dollars for the Rotary efforts to eradicate polio in the world. Every donation made to Rotary’s End Polio Now Campaign was tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rotary’s 2020 program hailed this year’s historic achievement in polio eradication: Africa being declared free of the wild poliovirus. Rotary’s challenge now is to eradicate the wild poliovirus in the two countries where the disease has never been stopped: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Routine immunizations must also be strengthened in Africa to keep the virus from returning there.

To eradicate polio, multiple high-quality immunization campaigns must be carried out each year in polio-affected and high-risk countries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, its’ necessary to maintain populations’ immunity against polio while also protecting health workers from the coronavirus and making sure they do not transmit it.

Rotary has contributed more than $2.1 billion to polio eradication since it launched the PolioPlus program in 1985, and it is committed to raising $50 million each year for polio eradication activities. The local club has contributed well more than $155,000 to the efforts. Because of the 2-to-1 matching agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that means that each year, $150 million goes toward fulfilling Rotary’s promise to the children of the world that no child will ever again suffer the devastating effects of polio.