Every Rotarian - Every Year  Total to Date
Club Goal for the 2007-2008 Rotary Year is $4,000
$2879	$3,200	$3,400	$3,600	$3,800	$4,000	$4,300

Ardelle's program guest was Rich Rowland, District Governor 5650 Elect, who spoke about Rotary's $100 Million Challenge to eradicate polio. During the past year new tools and tactics have led to a reduction of polio cases and stopped the circulation of imported polio virus in 22 re-infected countries.  At the same time, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative faces a significant funding gap.

When Rotary launched its PolioPlus program in 1985, there were over 350,000 cases of polio each year- 1,000 cases per day, in over 125 countries.  Today, annual cases of polio paralysis are down to about 1,000 a year—that’s a 99% reduction in the number of infections worldwide. At the end of 2007 only four countries remained polio endemic – India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the lowest number in history and, more importantly, polio only circulates in certain areas of each these countries. For example all Southern Nigeria and Southern India are polio free. Tremendous progress has been made since the launch of the PolioPlus Program.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded The Rotary Foundation a $100 million grant, which Rotary will match dollar for dollar, over the next three years. It is the largest grant ever given to a volunteer service organization and is a tremendous validation of the approach and success of our PolioPlus Program. Rotary has committed to raising $100 million of new funds, over a three year period beginning 1 January 2008. Rotary’s new PolioPlus fundraising effort will be completed on 31 December 2010.

 

Each club is being challenged to organize a public fundraising event each year for the three years of the challenge. Clubs are being asked to commit to a goal of at least $1,000 per year for the next three years. This goal may be fulfilled through the public fundraiser. Individual Rotarians are also invited to personally take part in the challenge, with special emphasis on new members and clubs who have not had the opportunity to participate in PolioPlus, Rotary’s priority program.

Rich encouraged Rotarians to consider three ways to help: your wallets, your legs, and your lungs.

• Your wallets. That's easy to understand. Through your generosity, Rotary has contributed an astronomical sum—well over $500 million—to the campaign to eradicate polio. The money part is essential. This can't be done without money. Fighting poverty and disease is an exceedingly difficult undertaking, and it isn't cheap.

• Your legs. All the money in the world doesn't matter if it isn't spent the right way. That's where your legs come in. Rotary has more than 1 million volunteers, and it can send them wherever they're needed most. Every year, some of you use your legs in Countries where you walk door to door administering the polio vaccine.
• Your lungs. Any group with thousands of clubs spread throughout the world has a voice that travels far. When Rotary started talking about polio, people listened. Dozens of major partners joined the effort.

Truly, what Rotary has done is unprecedented in history. No group has ever committed itself so fully to such a difficult challenge for so many years and with so much success. The world has gone from 125 polio-ridden countries to just four. And with your final push, you will bring that number down to zero, and in the process show the world what is possible.