Rotary Night at the Phillies Raises $12,000 to Prevent Polio
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SE PA Rotary Governor Francy Cross with her husband Dave Cross.
Rotary District 7450 Night with the Phillies was another success thanks to the great support of Rotary members and their families and friends. Attendees were treated to an excellent night of baseball that started with Rotary’s SE PA Governor Francy Cross throwing out the first pitch as she paved the way for another gem thrown by the Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Later, Nick Castellanos hit a home run. But everyone who supported the annual event really knocked it out of the park as well.
“Because of the efforts of our members, we sold 505 tickets which translates into more than $12,000 being donated to End Polio Now, including the match from the Gates Foundation,” said District Polio Chair, Kevin Katarynick. “I am grateful for your continued support of all our polio fundraising events,”
A great night at Citizens Bank Park translated into donations that will help support vaccines needed to immunize children against polio as well as the transportation to deliver those vaccines, the personnel needed to administer those vaccines to the children, and other materials needed to support Rotary’s global polio eradication. Donation helps the polio eradication campaign reach every child.
In addition, Rotary members that purchased tickets received Paul Harris points credited to their Rotary Foundation accounts for supporting this End Polio Now fundraiser. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. Many notable figures have been named Paul Harris Fellows, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk.
Rotary District Governor throwing the first pitch with the Phanatic. and attendees enjoying a night of socializing and raising money for Rotary's EndPolioNow campaign.
Polio was once one of the most feared diseases globally. A highly infectious disease with no cure, polio spread rapidly through communities and left devastation in its wake. Every year, thousands of children used to be killed and hundreds of thousands paralyzed.
“I want to share my deepest gratitude for all of your continued support to Polio Plus and The Rotary Foundation,” said Governor Francy. I also appreciate your support for providing me the opportunity to represent our Rotary District on the field with the Phillie Phanatic. The Phillies organization offers this opportunity to groups that sell a large number of tickets.
In 1985, Rotary International launched PolioPlus, the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative. Three years later, with Rotary's help, The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is launched, as polio paralyzes more than 350,000 children every year in over 125 countries.
A health worker gives a child a drop of vaccine during a door-to-door polio immunization campaign at the Gubio Road Internally Displaced Persons camp in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
Today, thanks to global efforts and innovative tools, polio cases are down 99.9%. With wild poliovirus restricted to just a few high-risk geographies, the world has an historic opportunity to stop virus transmission for good. There are 20 million children walking today who would otherwise have been paralyzed. Only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, remain endemic for wild polio.
Along with its partners, Rotary International and clubs around the world have helped immunize 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. Read more these efforts at Make Polio History.
To donate to the PolioPlus Fund, Click HERE to make a contribution. Learn more about End Polio Now’s efforts endpolio.org