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The Plattsburgh Sunrise and Noon Rotary clubs are raising money for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with a Rotary “Bike-A-Thon” this weekend.
PLATTSBURGH | Polio’s got to go, and the Plattsburgh Rotary clubs are taking aim to eradicate the disease worldwide.
A Plattsburgh Noon and Sunrise Rotary “bike-a-thon” to raise money toward combating polio is slated for this Saturday at the Champlain Centre Mall.
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., over 50 volunteers will put the pedal to the metal and take turns riding on stationary bikes to raise awareness to combat the disease.
“Plattsburgh has a chance to help make history at our Polio Bike-a-thon on Oct. 6 at the Champlain Centre Mall,” said Rotary Foundation and Sunrise Rotary Club Co-Chairman Roger Black in a statement. “We urge everyone to stop by the polio display outside Dick’s Sporting Goods.”
Polio is an infectious disease that can cause severe injury to the nerves, paralysis and in some cases, death.
The fundraiser is part of a larger Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), kickstarted by a number of agencies, including various national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1988.
“We want our community to know that Rotary International has led the charge against the crippling disease of polio for 32 years and has achieved great things,” Black said.
“Today, it is 99.9 percent eradicated. It exists in only three countries and the cases are few. But, to finish the job, we need a final push.”
Emily Moosmann, marketing director for the Champlain Centre Mall, said local rotary clubs have been active in fundraising.
“We raised $3,825, which tripled thanks to the Gates (Foundation) matching all donations to a total of $11,475,” she said.
Learn more about this weekend’s bike-a-thon by visiting champlaincentre.com/event/end-polio-bike-a-thon.
POLIO AT A GLANCE
Polio exists in just three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio cases have decreased over 99 percent since 1988, from approximately 350,000 cases in 125 countries to 22 reported cases last year.
Of the three different strains of polio, one (type two) was eradicated in 1999, and no case of another type (type three) has been reported since 2012.
Polio primarily effects children under 5 years old, according to the WHO.
And according to the GPEI, more than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated since the initiative’s inception.
As part of the GPEI, Rotary International has committed to raising $50 million annually for the next three years to continue to support the effort to eradicate polio.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is matching that commitment 2:1, according to a news release.
