E-CLUB PROGRAM

PRESIDING TODAY IS: Bonnie Branciaroli, President

Ding! We’re now in session.

Welcome all – visitors, fellow Rotarians and guests alike to this E-Club program!

Remember the Four-Way Test!

At the beginning of each meeting we remind ourselves of the The Four-Way Test.  Therefore, please remember to ask yourself always . . .

Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Reflective Moments

“The fight against infantile paralysis cannot be a local war. It must be nationwide. It must be total war in every city, town and village throughout the land. For only with a united front can we ever hope to win any war.”

        – President Harry Truman, 1946

 

“We are achingly close to getting rid of polio – more than 99 percent of the way there. Finishing the job is a big challenge, but it is very doable if we keep up the effort.”

       – Bill Gates

 

“Whenever I go doing my work in Africa, the Rotarians have been there before me. It is a very humbling thing to discover just exactly what "Service Above Self" adds up to when you see it in practice in the field.”

       – Bono, International musician

 

“I am from a generation who has witnessed the devastating effects of polio. When I discovered how close we were to eradicating polio, I was very motivated to be a part of this movement. It is so rare when you can accomplish something so spectacular.”

       –  Angelique Kidjo, singer-songwriter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D7545 Events

July 27 – RLI (Rotary Leadership Institute) – Clarksburg, WV  

 

July 31 – RI President Mark Daniel Maloney Visits WV. Glen Jean, WV.

 

August 10 – District 7545 Club Assembly & Grants Seminar – Flatwoods, WV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LET'S END POLIO NOW

October 24 is Rotary World Polio Day, but July is considered ‘Polio Month’ on the Rotary International (RI) public image calendar. Now is the time to begin promoting your “End Polio Now” fundraiser set for October 2019.

 

July is also the time to ask yourself and your club, “So what do you want to do to help meet RI and Zone 33 Foundation challenges when it comes to Polio Plus giving?”
 

Rotary has been engaged in the worldwide fight against polio since 1985 when the organization launched the Polio Plus program. Polio Plus was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children.
 

To most Americans today, polio (Poliomyelitis), a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours, is not considered a health threat. With the widespread use of the Salk and Sabin vaccines, polio was eliminated in the United States in 1979.

Also, in 1979 Rotary members and delegates of the Philippine Ministry of Health looked on as volunteers administered drops of the oral polio vaccine to children in the Manila barrio of Guadalupe Viejo.
 

When James L. Bomar Jr., then Rotary president, put the first drops of the Sabin vaccine into a child’s mouth, he ceremonially launched the Philippine poliomyelitis immunization effort. Bomar joined Enrique M. Garcia, the country's minister of health, in signing the contract committing Rotary International and the government of the Philippines to a joint five-year effort to immunize around 6 million children against polio at a cost of about $760,000.
 

The effort to eradicate polio globally began in earnest with the formation in 1988 of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership that included Rotary International, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and governments of the world. Rotary International focused on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and awareness building.
 

The Western Hemisphere reported its last case in Peru in 1991.
 

Rotary International, through the diligent work of tens of thousands of volunteers and donations from its 1.2 million members, has contributed more than $1.7 billion to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. Rotary advocacy brought donor governments into a partnership that brought contributions of more than $10 billion to the effort.
 

But this incurable disease still threatens children in some parts of the world. Today, there are only three countries that have never stopped the transmission of the wild poliovirus: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
 

Cases due to wild poliovirus have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then, to 33 reported cases in 2018. However, as long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease.

 

What We Can Do

So, how does Rotary raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched two to one from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to continue this fight against polio until it is totally eradicated?

 

Answers:

•  Consistent donation to the Rotary Foundation.

•  A minimum $35 per capita annual donation to Polio Plus

•  Accept the challenge to achieve our Foundation Goals

 

What are our Goals?

The Mountain State Rotary E-Club (MSRE) is part of Zone 33, which encompasses a large portion of the eastern sector of the United States. To learn more about Zone 33, visit:  https://www.rizones33-34.org/

 

After attending a Zone 33 District Leadership Training Seminar in Greensboro, NC this past spring, I brought back ideas to share with my club and other club members who may attend this program.

 

 

A 100% Sustaining Club

Why not start with a 100% Sustaining club? As a Sustaining member of the Rotary Foundation, a member donates $100 per year. That is $25 per quarter. If you think about it that is one meal at your favorite local restaurant.

 

If each member of the club donated $25 per quarter to the Rotary Foundation, that club would become a 100% Sustaining club.

 

If each club in our District (all 55) were to be a 100% Sustaining club, that would bring much needed dollars into our Designated District funds that would allow for more District grants to be allocated to more community projects.

 

 

Polio Plus

Zone leadership has asked each District within Zone 33 to contribute $35 per capita to Polio Plus. That means each member of our (your) club is willing to donate $35 sometime during the 2019-2020 Rotary year. In your annual spending budget, how much is $35? Considering the good it does in the world, let’s all make an effort to donate to Polio Plus this year.

 

How to Donate

Rotary Direct is an easy, online donation platform located in Rotary.org and MyRotary. You must have a MyRotary account to use the system. A MyRotary account is simple to activate. Just go to: https://my.rotary.org/en to open an account.

 

Once your MyRotary account is opened, it’s easy to donate through Rotary Direct, which can be found here: https://www.rotary.org/en/donate 

Once you click on Donate, the link connects to https://my.rotary.org/en/donate

Just follow the prompts.

 

If your goal includes working toward a Paul Harris Fellow, (donating $1,000.00 per year), Rotary Direct makes it easy. Just set up a reoccurring payment option and the amount you decide to donate will be taken from your credit card automatically every month. To reach Paul Harris status that reoccurring payment would be $84 per month.

 

Our E-Club also offers a donation option with each quarterly billing. If you don’t want to use Rotary Direct, just send your $25 payment with your dues.

 

Donation contributions are tracked through Rotary Club Central where both individuals and clubs are recognized. To date, our club recognizes six Paul Harris Fellows (PHF) and seven Sustaining members. Our goal this year is to hopefully build our sustaining member numbers to reach that 100 percent.

 

A Giving and Fun Event

Many Rotary clubs add a fifth option to the Four-Way Test, and that is: Have Fun! What kind of event can we as an E-club create around World Polio Day that could spur Polio Plus giving? Let’s put on our thinking caps and discuss!

 

 

NOTE:

I’ll leave this program with a story sent to me by our D7545 District Governor Shari Messinger. The story comes from an experience she had traveling to India in January 2018 for National Immunization Day.

Rotary’s 34-year fight against Polio has led, to some degree, to what District and Zone leaders call “Polio Fatigue”.  Many clubs in the U. S. are growing weary and want to move on to more recent projects, but Shari’s story will bring into perspective how critical the Polio battle truly is.

 

“As a young woman I worked with a man who had contracted polio in high school. He was a robust athlete stricken to near death. Although difficult, he created a life for himself selling insurance and worked from his home because he was confined to a wheelchair. He died much too soon from complications of Polio.

 

Given the opportunity to go to India and participate in a National Immunization Day was a long-time goal of mine. Having seen my friend struggle in his life did not prepare me for the devastating effects Polio truly has.

 

I’ll never forget stepping off the bus in January 2018 and the first person I see is moving about with sandals protecting his hands from the ground. I was speechless, even a bit frightened. I’m not sure if it was fear or just shock. We were told not to give him money because the money would be taken away from him by his owner, or he would be robbed.
Having no control over my emotions, feeling helpless to comfort this young man was something I definitely was not prepared for.

 

As we visited the World Health Organization and UNICEF, I began to understand what was being done and how this enormous task is implemented to eradicate this horrid disease. After our education, we were taken out to locations with the healthcare worker to give the life saving drops.

 

Motorcycles drove up with their children, buses stopped; children ran door-to-door gathering their friends to receive drops. They knew the drops would keep them healthy and gladly took them.

 

I know I didn’t do much, but I did make a small difference. I now know the importance of funding our Polio initiative. I know now, without a doubt, these healthcare workers know how to find ever child in every corner of our world. 

 

I will keep funding our Polio program until this disease is eradicated.” 

 

 

More Info on Polio

NPR Polio Series

 

James L. Bomar, Jr.

 

Zone 33 National Immunization Day Movie

 

Rotary International $10 Million Announcment

 

 

 

 

 

 

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