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PHOTO: Rotarians Jessica Putnam and Julie Forbes, seen here at a Youth Safety Day event, will host Pints for Polio on Oct. 28. (Submitted photo)
BRIDGTON — Rotary members in the Bridgton-Lake Region will take action in honor of World Polio Eradication to raise awareness, money and support to end polio, beginning at 3 0.m., Thursday, Oct. 28, Olde Mill Tavern, 56 Main St., Harrison.
Polio is a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today. At the event, $1 of every pint sold from 3 p.m. to clsoing will be donated to Rotary’s fight to eradicate polio.
When Rotary and its partners, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF 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 percent, and just two countries in the world continue to report cases of wild poliovirus — Afghanistan and Pakistan.
With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Rotary has committed to raising US$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 combined yearly contribution of $150 million.
“Rotarians are people of action and we couldn’t think of a better way to tell our story then by showcasing one of our biggest efforts, eradicating polio,” said Julie Forbes, 2020-21 president of the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club and a polio survivor. “We encourage everyone to join us on October 28th at the Olde Mill between 3:00 p.m. and closing and support Pints for Polio. Eat dinner, have a beverage and hear Bruce Marshall sing. What could be better?”
Rotary has contributed more than $2.1 billion to ending polio since 1985, including over $25,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Bridgton-Lake Region.
