A horse c
omes into a bar, the bartender yells at Hey!!....and the Horse says “Absolutely” …HAHAHA
omes into a bar, the bartender yells at Hey!!....and the Horse says “Absolutely” …HAHAHAThe Polio Plus program.
If you look on the RI Website it’s a little grey as to when the Polio Plus program became a separate choice on the RI Foundation contribution paperwork, but it does show that Rotary International launched PolioPlus in 1985 and, with the World Health Organization is a founding member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.
The “Plus” in PolioPlus means that Rotarians are doing more than stopping the spread of polio in the last countries with reported cases. They also are building a legacy of infrastructure and partnerships that will support the fight against the infectious disease long after polio is gone. For example, sometimes people would say to the Rotarians who were passing out the medicine “Great you have protected me from polio, but I can’t get clean water” so Rotarians started returning and helping get needed work and repairs done, along with fighting polio.
In 2017, Rotary’s Centennial Year there was a major push to eliminate polio now; that is when I think the choice to direct your RI Foundation gift to polio specifically was listed as a choice on the donation form. The idea was and is still to get every Rotarian to donate $100 RI Foundation (EREY – Every Rotarian Every Year.)
That year the challenging goal to raise $300 million was created, (it did happen). The next year was to reach $360 million with Polio and the Annual Fund as the two major pushes. PolioPlus was to raise $150 million (to be used only for Polio eradication) and the Annual Fund was to raise $135 million. Not sure if it came together, but it began the idea of PolioPlus as being a separate and specific thing all by itself.
Now, you must make it known to your Club’s Foundation Treasurer that you want the funds directed to PolioPlus, or it will default to the Annual Fund. You can also have her split it between the two.
In our Club the hope is each person will donate a minimum of $250 per year to the foundations, with $150 designated to the BBRC Foundation and $100 to The Rotary Foundation. You can tell Mindy, the BBRC Foundation President if you want to designate to PolioPlus, the Annual Fund or other Rotary funds. You can also donate online directly to The Rotary Foundation. Please let Mindy know if you do this.
For more information on PolioPlus, see this story on the Rotary website.