Enjoy a pint of 95 Golden Lager from Oct. 6-24 at Springfield Beer Company, 3788 Wabash Ave., and $1 will be donated for every pint sold to help eradicate polio, thanks to a partnership with the Rotary Club of Springfield.
A kick-off social and fundraiser will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Springfield Beer Company/Springfield Taproom. Enjoy a “pint for polio,” enter the 50/50 drawing, make a donation and find out other ways to get involved and support the cause.
Rotary International is a global leader fighting to eradicate polio for more than 40 years. Oct. 24 is World Polio Day where partners worldwide highlight global efforts toward a polio-free world, raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination and honor the tireless contributions of those on the frontlines in the fight to eradicate polio from every corner of the globe.
There is no cure for polio. Polio was once one of the most feared global health threats, causing illness, paralysis and other disabilities, and death in both children and adults around the world. In the 1950s, polio epidemics paralyzed or killed tens of thousands of children each year before the first polio vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955. Vaccination is the best way to provide immunity from the virus. Since 1988, polio vaccines have led to a 99% decrease in cases and prevented an estimated 20 million cases of paralysis in children.
The wild polio virus has been eradicated in all but two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, another form of the virus is circulating in Africa and other countries. Polio anywhere is a potential threat everywhere. Rotary International and its partners estimate that if all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
Photos of children in iron lungs, not that long ago, should be a reminder of how lucky we are but also that the work will never be done until polio has been eradicated from the planet. Massive efforts are underway worldwide to achieve that goal. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments along with the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
You can help here in Springfield. Proceeds from the local Pints for Polio event will be donated to Rotary International’s PolioPlus Fund.
For more information about Ending Polio Now, go to https://www.rotary.org/en/our-work/ending-polio.
Karen Ackerman Witter is a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise, which also raises funds to support Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio from the planet.
