Page 15 - Gears and Ears February 2014

From Rotary International

Polio Status Report

COUPLE’S $1.1 MILLION GIFT BOOSTS

PUSH TO ERADICATE POLIO
Rotary member Terry Caster and his wife, Barbara, announced a $1.1 million gift
to Rotary to help eradicate polio. What’s more, their gift will be matched two-for-
one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, resulting in $3.3 million in new funding
for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Casters’ gift is one of the largest-
ever individual contributions to Rotary for polio eradication. In addition to
supporting our No. 1 goal of a polio-free world, the couple gave $750,000 to the
Rotary Peace Centers to fund a peace fellow’s studies every other year. Both gifts
were made to The Rotary Foundation in December. “Barbara and I are blessed to
Photo Credit: Alyce Henson/Rotary International
be fruitful in our family business, A-1 Self Storage,” said Terry, the company’s
founder and a member of the Rotary Club of La Mesa in California. “We’ve always felt it is important to give back and
helpothers, so we are involved in numerous charities. “But as a Rotarian, I can think of no cause more worthy than Rotary’s
work to end polio and promote peace,” said Terry, who received Rotary’s Service Above Self Award in 1993 for his humanitarian
work. Since the 1960s, the Casters have actively supported humanitarian efforts in San Diego and across the border in Tijuana,
Mexico. They founded Serving Hands International in 1982 to help the poor in Baja California. After meeting Mother Teresa, the
couple were inspired to expand SHI’s work in Mexico.
Rotary is a leading partner in the fight to end polio. Through our advocacy, fundraising, and public awareness efforts, Rotary has
helped reduce polio cases by 99 percent worldwide. The End Polio Now, Make History Today fundraising campaign makes
contributions work three times as hard with matching funds from the Gates Foundation. The announcement of the Casters’ gift
was made in San Diego at Rotary’s International Assembly, an annual training event for the incoming class of governors who
represent Rotary’s 537 districts worldwide.
INDIA CELEBRATES THREE

YEARS WITHOUT POLIO
Throughout India and around the world, Rotary clubs are celebrating a major mile-
stone: India has gone three years without a new case of polio. The last reported case
was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on 13 January 2011.
To mark this historic triumph — reached after a decades-long battle against polio —
Rotary clubs illuminated landmarks and iconic structures throughout the country with
four simple but powerful words, “India is polio free.” The three-year achievement
sets the stage for polio-free certification of the entire Southeast Asia region by the
Photo Courtesy of the India PolioPlus Committee
World Health Organization. The Indian government also plans to convene a polio summit in February to commemorate this victory
in the global effort to eradicate polio. The challenge now is to replicate India’s success in neighboring Pakistan, one of three
remaining polio-endemic countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. Rotary leaders in India are working with their Pakistani
counterparts to share best practices and lessons learned during India’s successful anti-polio campaign. Rotary was particularly
effective in obtaining the support of influential religious leaders in India’s Islamic communities. Pakistani Rotary leaders are playing
a similar role to counter rumors and misinformation about polio vaccinations that keep some Muslim parents from immunizing their
children. Meanwhile, National Immunization Days continue in both countries. During these large-scale drives, Rotary volunteers
join health workers to vaccinate every child under age five against polio.
“We must now stop polio in Pakistan to both protect Pakistani children and to safeguard our success in India and other countries
where we have beaten this terrible disease,” says India PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur. “Until polio is finally
eradicated globally, all unvaccinated children will remain at risk of infection and paralysis, no matter where they live.”
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