Join the members of the Rotary Club of Bundaberg Central for a delightful afternoon tea to help put an end to polio.
Rotary Club of Bundaberg Central member Charles Blanshard is encouraging friends and family to purchase a seat at the afternoon tea event at Bargara, and he said every dollar raised locally would help one child fight polio.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralysing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of five.
The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water, and can then attack the nervous system.
Charles said Rotary International had been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years, and locally by attending the Rotary Club of Bundaberg Central fundraising high tea community members could help.
“For every $1 that we raise here, Bill Gates will match it with $2,” Charles said.
“A polio vaccination for a child cost $3 and therefore every $1 raise here will help one child from becoming sick with polio.”
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary International has reduced polio cases by 99.9 per cent since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
Rotary members from around the world have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralysing disease.
Charles said polio was unheard of in Australia today but remained widespread in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Rotary International believe t’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free – if all eradication efforts stopped now, within 10 years, polio could paralyse as many as 200,000 children each year.
Charles said the Rotary Club of Bundaberg Central fundraising afternoon tea to end polio would be held at St peters Anglican Church Hall, Bauer Street in Bargara at 1.45 pm on Saturday, 25 February.
Every one is welcome and bookings are essential by phoning Charles on 0421 464 030.
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