CENTRE WELLINGTON – The Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora will be part of Rotary International’s initiative in October to eradicate polio worldwide.
And you can help by buying a slice of pizza, buying a meat pie, or buying a beverage.
Rotary International has been working to eradicate polio worldwide for some 30 years – and it is very nearly there.
Only two countries in the world still see cases of polio: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“These countries are hard to reach,” said Rob Galloway, past president and director of the Fergus-Elora club.
“But Rotary works with the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation and they have been working with the Taliban, who is allowing children to be immunized. It’s pretty exciting.”
The Gates Foundation is matching funds raised by Rotary in the End Polio campaign.
Galloway hopes the fundraisers they have planned will raise $5,000, which becomes $10,000 with that Gates Foundation support.
Oct. 24 is World Polio Day. Here’s what Fergus-Elora Rotary has planned in the days leading up to that significant day:
- Pizza for Polio: purchase pizza at Vito’s Pizzeria (58 Wellington Road 7, Unit 5, Elora) from Oct. 2 to 9, let staff know this is in support of the End Polio initiative, and a donation will be made by Vito’s based on pizza sales;
- Pints for Polio: order a meal and beverage at the Brewhouse on the Grand (170 St. David St. S., Fergus) on Oct. 5, advise staff it’s in support of the End Polio initiative, and a donation based on beverage sales will be made to the campaign; and
- Pies for Polio: pre-order the week before or pick up a meat pie at Fergies (250 St. Andrew St. E., Fergus) on Oct. 24, advise staff it’s in support of the End Polio initiative, and a donation based on meat pie sales will be made to the campaign.
Fergies and the Brewhouse have participated in past years, but Vito’s is a new participant in the program.
“We want to involve local businesses and these guys stepped up,” Galloway said. “That’s just kindness.”
The club meets monthly at the Wellington County Museum and Archives and will have a End Polio campaign launch at its Oct. 3 meeting.
The event includes lunch, a silent auction and special draws. Brenda Halloran, Rotary’s District Governor for Southern Ontario, will speak at the meeting. The event is for members, guests and the public.
To raise awareness about the campaign, on Oct. 13 the club will raise an End Polio flag in the Green Space in Elora (corner of West Mill St. and Metcalfe St.) at 10am. It will fly until Oct. 27.
“Polio is eliminated in Canada and the U.S. and young people don’t even know the disease anymore,” Galloway said.
“It’s predominately a childhood disease and it’s devastating. I still remember when it was a thing you feared.”
