Third Annual End Polio fundraiser dinner

Katie Mills of Lake Forest Park Bar and Grill presented a donation check for $1115 to Paul McMurry. He was accompanied by LFP Rotary Club Members-  (Left to right) Norman Lieberman, Katie Mills, Paul McMurry, Steve Sutton, and Marjorie Ando


By Marj Ando

The Lake Forest Park Rotary Club, in partnership with the Lake Forest Bar and Grill, had a successful End Polio fundraising dinner on October 22.

$1115 was raised at the event, which will be given to the Rotary International Foundation to help in the Global End Polio Eradication Initiative after receiving 2:1 matching funds from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The dinner was held in recognition of World Polio Day, October 24, 2015, to celebrate that there is only one country left in the World that still has the endemic polio virus in existence: Pakistan, where it is difficult to reach every child in the hardest-to-reach areas of Asia.

The goal is to completely eradicate this virus within the next three years. Within the United States, the vaccine used is an injection developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in the 1950’s. Many of us don’t even remember the effects of the polio virus which has been been known since prehistoric times. Its effects on the nervous system are often devastating as the surviving children are often paralyzed, losing their ability to walk or use their arms and hands, and some die because they can no longer breathe on their own.

In the distribution of vaccines, an oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin was chosen for worldwide distribution in the pursuit of ending this disease, as it is effective and easy to distribute.

Rotary International started their immunization campaign in developing countries worldwide in 1985.  

As work progressed, they have been joined by other groups who have spearheaded The Global Polio Eradication Initiative: WHO, UNICEF, CDC, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and national governments in partnership.

Locally, we have also had the generous support of the Lake Forest Bar and Grill for the past three years. This year, they were able to generously donate 20% of their dinner receipts to the effort. This makes a big difference as does the 2:1 Matching funds by the Gates Foundation for donations.

We wish to thank the entire staff of the Bar and Grill for helping to make this a wonderful event. We also thank the community members who dined out that night for their support. It was a festive event with flowers and balloons provided by Janice Strand, and many of our members who made it into a memorable event.

We feel it is key to remain vigilant and continue our efforts. If even one child anywhere in the world remains at risk, then all children, everywhere, remain at risk, too.

More information here

Donations will continue to be accepted by check at: Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park,  P.O. Box 55983, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155. Please make the checks payable to Rotary International Foundation. End Polio. Each donor’s funds will be matched (2:1) by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.