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Rotary Club of
Rolla, Mo. Friday Noon at Miller's Grill |
 Rotary’s Challenge reaches US$200 million milestone! Rotary International has succeeded in meeting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s US$200 million match in funding for polio eradication, raising more than $202.6 million as of 17 January. “We’ll celebrate this milestone, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll stop raising money or spreading the word about polio eradication,” Rotary Foundation Trustee John F. Germ told Rotary leaders at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA. “We can’t stop until our entire world is certified as polio-free.” The fundraising milestone was reached in response to $355 million in challenge grants awarded to The Rotary Foundation by the Gates Foundation. All funds have been earmarked to support polio immunization activities in affected countries where the vaccine-preventable disease continues to paralyze children. “In recognition of Rotary’s great work, and to inspire Rotarians in the future, the [Gates] foundation is committing an additional $50 million to extend our partnership,” said Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation. “Rotary started the global fight against polio, and continues to set the tone for private fundraising, grassroots engagement, and maintaining polio at the top of the agenda with key policymakers.” |
 12th Annual Rotary Holiday Celebration December 11, 2011 Click here for more photos |
 Rotary Celebrates India’s First Polio-free Year
Rotary
club members worldwide are cautiously celebrating a major
milestone in the global effort to eradicate polio. India, until
recently an epicenter of the wild poliovirus, has gone one year
without recording a new case of the crippling, sometimes fatal,
disease.
India’s last reported case was a
two-year-old girl in West Bengal State on 13 January 2011. The
country recorded 42 cases in 2010, and 741 in 2009.
A chief factor in India’s success has been
the widespread use of the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which is
effective against both remaining types of the poliovirus.
Another has been rigorous monitoring, which has helped reduce
the number of children missed by health workers during National
Immunization Days to less than 1 percent, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO).
Rotary has been a spearheading partner in
the
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
since 1988, along with WHO, UNICEF, and
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation is also a key supporter of the
initiative.
Sporting their signature yellow vests and caps, the nearly
119,000 Rotarians in India have helped administer vaccine to
children, organize free health camps and polio awareness
rallies, and distribute banners, caps, comic books, and other
items. |
 Club Treasurer Terry Harris (left) presents a Paul Harris Fellow Award +8 lapel pin to Club Past President Don Brackhahn on January 6, 2012. Each Paul Harris Fellow Award represents a $1,000 donation to The Rotary Foundation to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. To date, members of our club have given $185,000 to The Rotary Foundation. |
 Rotary International Theme Club Year 2011-2012 |
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