×

Jamestown Rotary To Participate In World Polio Day Fundraiser On Oct. 24

Oct. 24 marks World Polio Day for the more than 33,000 Rotary Clubs and their 1,300,000 members in every corner of the globe.

The Rotary Club of Jamestown and the Greater Jamestown AM Rotary Club will participate in the second annual Pedal for Polio event on Oct. 23. Chris Anderson of the Noon Rotary Club and Kelly Dawson and Greg Leonard from the Greater Jamestown AM Rotary Club were joined by Jake Schrantz and John O’Hagan to participate in the 23 mile charity bike ride. Contributions can be made at raise.rotary.org/Jake-Schrantz/challenge1.

Rotary International District 7090, which includes Jamestown, has a goal of $60,000 which, if reached will be matched by an anonymous Canadian.

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9%, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners are working to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Rotary has committed to raising $50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.

Rotary has contributed more than $2.2 billion to ending polio since 1985, including more than $150,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Jamestown.

The Jamestown Municipal Building is bathed in purple light to mark World Polio Day. All young children all over the world had the tip of their little finger dyed in gentian violet dye when they received the vaccine.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today