Above / An informative exhibit on World Polio Day helps demonstrate how the crippling disease nearly has been eradicated, thanks to Rotary initiatives since 1988. Rotary District 6450 Governor Chuck Corrigan serves to welcome folks to the display along Main at Water streets that showcases the history of the fight to end polio. (PN Photo, Oct. 24, 2020)
On Sat., Oct. 24, 2020, the four Rotary Clubs of Naperville joined 35,000 Rotary clubs worldwide to celebrate World Polio Day.
Locally, the Rotary Club of Naperville, the service club that typically meets on Thursdays for lunch at Meson Sabika, organized an educational exhibit on display from 9AM to 6PM Oct. 24 at the corner of Main at Water streets in downtown Naperville.
The display portrays polio’s terrible effects and global devastation by featuring a real iron lung, an example of one used widely in America in the 1940s and 1950s to keep many victims alive.
District 6450 Governor Chuck Corrigan, a past president and charter member of the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown, explained the cost to immunize one child is $3.50. Folks have been donating to “End Polio Now” throughout the day.
Community members are encouraged to view it, read background and ask questions. Signboards provide links to make donations and get more information about programs and other service projects initiated by Naperville’s four Rotary clubs.
Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched in 1988
When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, 350,000 cases of polio were reported in 125 countries. Every year since, progress against the disease has been significant. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, continue to report cases of wild poliovirus.
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 worldwide at risk.
Rotary has committed to raising $50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match those funds 2-to-1, for a total annual contribution of $150 million.
Rotary since 1905
Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who unite and take action to create lasting change in communities around the globe. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to improve lives through service. From promoting literacy and peace to providing clean water and improving health care, Rotary members are always working to better the world.
To learn more about Rotary and the fight to eradicate polio, visit www.endpolio.org.
Story submitted by Christine Bloom, member Rotary Club of Naperville, and first posted on Oct. 11, 2020. Updated on World Polio Day, Oct. 24.
Editor’s Note: The Rotary Club of Naperville was chartered in 1941, followed by the Rotary Club of Naperville/Sunrise in 1991, the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown in 2007, and the Rotary Club of Naperville/After Dark in 2017. All four Rotary Clubs of Naperville are members of Rotary International, chartered in 1905.
