Rotary Club Opens Up High Street Shop For Polio Campaign
Storrington Rotary Club are opening up the
former Woolwich Bank shop in the High Street, from 15th – 27th February, to
publicise and raise funds for Rotary’s ‘Thanks for Life – End Polio Now’
campaign. Worldwide polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority since
1985. Back then the poliovirus was endemic in more than 125 countries
paralysing more than 1,000 children every day. Since then, with Rotary working
in conjunction with world health authorities, the number of countries where the
poliovirus is endemic has declined to 4 – India, Nigeria, Pakistan and
Afghanistan; and the number of new cases has been reduced by more than 99% to
just 1,491 in the whole of 2008. But the goal is complete worldwide elimination
to prevent its export to polio free areas.
Polio is only an air flight away from the United Kingdom and Ireland. We must continue the eradication campaign to safeguard all children.
Recognising this achievement, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Rotary US$355 million in the global effort to eradicate polio. This must be matched by US$200 million from Rotary bringing the total commitment by Rotary and the Gates Foundation to US$555 million. The ‘Thanks for Life’ campaign is aimed at raising these matching funds.
A ‘Students’ Poster and Painting Competition’ has been organised with the help of local schools and as many of the entries as possible will be exhibited in the ‘Thanks for Life’ shop. The shop will be open from 15th to 27th February, Mondays to Saturdays, between 10am and 4pm. We hope that members of the public will come into the shop to see the exhibition and support this campaign. There will also be a short DVD playing, showing an immunisation campaign in India, as well as other international aid exhibits.
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