Submitted by Jim Dilamarter
As a long-time member of Rotary and a current member of the Rotary Club of Northern Bruce Peninsula, I have a keen interest in some of our international projects. Our Rotary Club strongly supports Rotary International’s commitment to eliminating polio around the globe.
I am personally interested because my older brother had polio when he was a child. He was one of the lucky ones who survived and managed to live a full life, although he suffered physically from the ravages of the disease. He never liked to talk about those times. I am truly glad that our battle against this dreaded disease is being won and polio almost eradicated thanks, in a great part, to Rotary.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person. In many places in the world, it is spread through contaminated water. It attacks the nervous system.
We are still in the midst of a pandemic and, therefore, we understand how things like the coronavirus and its variants can spread. Polio is similar. The first epidemic hit North America in 1894. Franklin Delano Roosevelt got polio in 1921 and went on to serve multiple terms as the 32nd President of the United States. Former Canadian Prime Ministers Paul Martin Jr. and Jean Chretien also contracted and overcame polio. The Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, as well as Canadian musicians Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were also afflicted with polio as children.
Many treatments early on involved using an Iron Lung which was really a tank ventilator. It assisted breathing when muscle control was lost. An American virologist and medical researcher, Jonas Salk, developed and successfully tested a vaccine in 1955.
Now let me tell you about what we, as Rotarians, are doing and have done. I have simply taken a lot of this information from the Rotary International web site and will highlight some of the important issues.
• Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our own club has been involved for as long as I can remember. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
• We are a partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. We are pleased to report that polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
• Members of Rotary have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries. We have advocated for governments to support these efforts and have managed to see $10 billion added to our effort.
• Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We cannot stop now. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
Here are some interesting figures:
• It costs $3.00, on average, to fully protect a child.
• 430 million children were vaccinated in 39 countries in 2017.
• It costs $100 million to conduct polio surveillance worldwide.
We have waited and continue to wait for the covid vaccines to be readily available and will be both happy and relieved when we are all able to receive our vaccinations. Imagine those families who lost loved ones because there was no vaccine for polio for years. Imagine living at a time when there was no or little hope of recovery or survival.
We are so close to eliminating this disease. I am proud to be a Rotarian and proud of the efforts Rotary has taken to eliminate this disease from our world.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the fight to end Polio can do so through their local Rotary Clubs. Most clubs host a fundraiser dedicated to this cause at some time during the year. Sometime this year, our club will have a ‘fundraiser’ of some sort to raise money for this cause. Sometimes it is an internal event with our club and, other times, we try to involve our community. You are always welcome to contact us at nbprotary@gmail.com to contribute to this important cause.
NBP Rotary Prepares for Scholarship Time
Thanks to the generosity of our community through our Green No Dinner Dinner, we can once again begin our plans for the Scholarships at Bruce Peninsula District School (BPDS).
For years, the Rotary Club of Northern Bruce Peninsula has provided scholarships for post-secondary students at BPDS to support their goals and plans for post-secondary studies. Through Rotary, up to $4,500.00 in scholarships will be presented to students at graduation. This year, the following scholarships are available to eligible students:
1. Highest Academic Proficiency Scholarship ($1,000) – will be presented to the graduating student from BPDS with the highest Grade 12 academic average.
2. ‘Service Above Self’ Scholarship ($1,000) – will be presented to the graduating student from BPDS whose involvement in voluntary and other extra-curricular activities best exemplifies the Rotary motto of ‘Service Above Self’.
3. The Keith Hopkinson Memorial Scholarship ($1,000) – will go to a graduating student from BPDS who will pursue post-secondary studies in a medical, health or related program.
4. J.C. Buckley Memorial Scholarship ($1,000) – will be presented to a graduating student from BPDS who will pursue post-secondary studies in power engineering, skilled trade, or similar technical program.
5. The Mary Cameron Scholarship ($500) – will go to the most-improved student in the graduating class of BPDS (to be selected by the School).
More detailed descriptions along with eligibility stipulations and requirements can be found on each of the application forms. We encourage graduating students from BPDS to apply for Rotary scholarships and request that you provide as much detail as possible on your application forms regarding the post-secondary program you plan to pursue in the coming fall term. The due date for complete applications is Friday, June 4, 2021.
Very soon, Mrs. Jodi Naves from BPDS will be sending out an e-mail to all students in this year’s graduating class with attached MS Word files for applications. There will be three separate application files, one for each of ‘Service Above Self’, Keith Hopkinson and J.C. Buckley memorial Scholarships. Complete application forms can be submitted via e-mail to Mrs. Naves school e-mail account or via regular mail to our Rotary Club at 59 Main Street, Box 305, Lion’s Head, Ontario, N0H 1W0. In case anyone did not receive the school e-mail, they can e-mail the club at nbprotary@gmail.com.
Rotary is proud of the students at our local school and is pleased, each year, to support their endeavours through our Scholarship Programs.
