by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Rotary International has been on a quest to eradicate polio from every corner of the world since 1917. That year, the club raised $26.50 toward the effort.
The current goal is quite a bit more ambitious.
“This is a year we can change the history of the world,” said Tommy Grimes, chair of the Rotary International District 6970 Foundation at Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
The Rotary Foundation Polio Campaign received a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which included a challenge to the clubs all over the world to match the contribution. It is the largest grant ever given to a volunteer service organization. Great strides have been made in Rotary’s campaign to eradicate the disease since 1917, but matching $100 million sets a new standard.
“This campaign is unprecedented in working with a nonprofit organization in the United States,” said Bill Bainbridge, chair of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville Foundation.
Polio exists in only four countries in the world today: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria, said Heather Duncan, who has been appointed “point person” for the Rotary Club of Jacksonville Foundation member contributions.
“Polio has been 99 percent eradicated in the world, but the last 1 percent will be the most difficult,” said Duncan, who added, “I hope you are as inspired by what’s possible as I am. After polio is eradicated, we’ll have to decide what to do next.”
Grimes explained that if each club member pledges $1,000 over the next three years, “Each one of us can immunize 1,667 children against polio. If they were not immunized, of those 1,667, five children will contract polio and one will die. I don’t know a person in this room who doesn’t believe a life is worth $1,000 over three years.”
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