Light up downtown Denver and dine out! It's part of our fight against polio
Here is a message from our District Governor Karen Sekich:
All you have to do to support the world-wide fight to end polio is to eat out for Kickin’ Polio at one of your favorite local restaurants and pubs.
Rotary District 5450 has teamed up with nearly 20 restaurant and pub owners who believe in our final full-field press to eradicate polio once and for all. Please join us on February 23rd by eating out that day at one of the establishments you find below or find their full details on www.EndPolio.com.
You’ll know the day has come when you see the End Polio Now Emblem alight on the Denver City and County Building and other buildings around the downtown area. It is a reminder to us as Rotarians that we are so very near the end of this crippling disease, and it will serve to raise awareness in the public once again that this disease is still within a plane ride of our own children.
For so many years now we and other Rotarians and health organizations have waged a battle against Polio around the globe, and today I am able to share with you just how close we really are. This past year the world saw less than 1,000 cases of polio – that’s down from the 350,000 per year when Rotary International started the End Polio campaign in 1985.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offered PolioPlus a matching gift of $200,000,000. Rotarians have until June 30, 2012 to raise the matching amount. Later, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation increased the gift amount to $355,000,000 with the requirement that Rotary only had to match the original amount. Approximately, $155,000,000 has been raised. Rotary is raising polio awareness to meet the goal of matching the grant.
This means that our final goal is well within reach. Our district has just $75,000 yet to raise to complete our financial commitment to fully eradicate this crippling disease - A disease that often attacks children under five years old and severely cripples and/or paralyzes all who contract the virus.
This Districts financial commitment is more critical than ever at this stage in order to complete the necessary vaccinations and the three year monitoring period that remains to officially declare a global disease eliminated permanently. Wild p olio virus is a bit like the weeds in our gardens… you pull the visible weeds and get as much of the root as you can, but for a period of time afterward you must be vigilant to pull new shoots. Wild polio virus is similar, but with a much longer period of removing the shoots, and that is why it is so important to fulfill our commitment to this project now – to get us through the final stage when we can declare success!
Here's a link to a list of participating restaurants.
http://www.endpolio.com/endpolio/site/indexswitch.php?page=heavyhitters