‘Pizza for Polio’ fundraiser being held October 28

In honour of World Polio Day, which is widely recognized in late October around the world, the Rotary Club of Chatham is holding a Pizza for Polio fundraiser on Wednesday, October 28 as part of Rotary’s 30-year mission to eradicate the crippling childhood disease polio.

The Rotary Club of Chatham has actively participated in polio eradication efforts from the beginning, under the longtime Polio Eradication Chair Emeritus, the late Keith Koke.

The Club has raised over $250,000 during this time to help eradicate this deadly disease.

This is the sixth year of the Club’s Pizza for Polio project, joined by the Rotary Club of Tilbury this year.

Any pizza orders on this day (carry out or delivery) will see a portion of sales being donated back to Rotary Club of Chatham to help eradicate polio worldwide.

Participating pizzerias in Chatham are: Konstantinos, Andy’s Place, Steve’s Pizzeria, Original 2 Pizza, Boston Pizza, Pizza Tonite and Pie-
Zano’s.

Since 1985, Rotary has contributed nearly $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries.

The disease remains endemic in two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – although other countries remain at risk for imported cases.

For as little as 60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.

After an international investment of more than US$9 billion, and the successful engagement of over 200 countries and 20 million volunteers, polio could be the first human disease of the 21st century to be eradicated.

It would also be only the second human disease to be eradicated in human history.

“It’s an amazing thing to think that our Rotary Club has helped save the lives of more than 400,000 children over the past three decades,” said Alysson Storey, Interim Polio Eradication Chair for the Rotary Club of Chatham, in a media release.

“And we could not have raised a dime without the leadership and energy of one of our longest-serving Rotarians, Keith Koke. Losing Keith earlier this year left a hole in our Club that can never be filled. Keith and his late wife Marty travelled around the world with Rotary on polio eradication service trips to help vaccinate children against this deadly disease. It’s tough to go on without him, but he would want us to continue his work. He almost single-handedly organized Pizza for Polio every year so this is our first, but definitely not our last way of honouring Keith and his lifelong work on this important global health initiative. I know he loved the fact that something fun like ordering a pizza and supporting a local business could also help save the lives of children around the world.”

Overall, remarkable progress has been achieved in the fight against polio.

Since 1988, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 a year to fewer than 200 cases in 2015.

The Americas were declared free from polio in 1994, the Western Pacific region in 2000, and Europe in 2002. There are only two countries left in the world (Afghanistan and Pakistan) have never stopped transmissio of the wild poliovirus.

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