Our speaker for our January 14 meeting was the 3-dimensional Bernie Reidel who brought us up to date on Rotary's decades-long fight against polio. Since the beginning of our campaign in 1978 we have assisted in the reduction of worldwide polio cases by 99.97%. But, since it is highly contagious we cannot rest until it is completely eradicated.
The organization's Polio Foundation will have its donations matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation, up to $50 million.
Today polio is primarily found along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan where we are attempting to vaccinate all children under the age of 5 with the assistance of the national governments who have had 6 national campaigns against polio in the last year.
The Bluffton club has exceeded its polio donation goals for each of the last 5 years, and we know that our members will respond to continue that record, as Rotary Never Gives Up!
