OneStepCloser to ending polio

Rotarians and Rotaractors are lacing their walking shoes to raise money and awareness for polio eradication.

Since 1979, Rotary has worked continuously to eradicate wild poliovirus, as a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Even though polio is now endemic in only two countries, it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free.

Mike Mauser and Helen Hankins of the Rotary Club of Global Action, along with Jim Ludwick from the Rotary e-Club of District 5190, are using their love of walking very long distances to raise funds for End Polio Now.

On Thursday, October 6, after 28 days, 523 kilometres and a lot of gelato, the #OneStepCloser team finished their epic journey along Italy’s Via de Francesco, setting out from Florence on September 8 and arriving at the Vatican in Rome on October 6, where they were greeted by Rotary Club of Global Action Past President Brian Rusch, before joining Rotary International Director Alberto Cecchini for dinner.

Along the way the trio raised awareness and $25,000 for PolioPlus which, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation two for one matching funds, takes them to their fundraising goal of $75,000.

This isn’t the first time the team has pulled on their hiking boots for The Rotary Foundation. In 2016 they undertook a similar project, raising $45,000 while walking the Comino de Santiago in Spain.

To support this project and spread the word, Rotary and Rotaract clubs were encouraged to hold their own fundraisers based around walking – admittedly shorter ones!

On October 11, the Rotaract Club of Auckland City and Rotary Club of Auckland, NZ, held a stall in Te Komititanga Square outside Britomart Train Station, and then walked approximately three kilometres to Ponsonby Central, where they enjoyed pizza and drinks to give the evening a little bit of an Italian theme.

Dressed in red End Polio Now shirts, they shared the message of Rotary’s mission to end polio and raised funds to support the Rotary Club of Global Action’s project to bring the end of polio #OneStepCloser.

This project is a great example of how clubs can work together to achieve Rotary’s purpose. It is a result of the work of members of both clubs to build reciprocal and equal links with one another. The word has also been spread by the work of Area Governor Joyti Singh to build a monthly meeting of the clubs.

It’s important to continue the work of vaccinating against polio for two reasons. Firstly, because even one child being paralysed or otherwise harmed by polio is unacceptable when we have the ability to prevent it. Secondly, because even at this late stage, if all eradication efforts stopped today, polio could paralyse as many as 200,000 children each year within 10 years.

If you would like to contribute to #OneStepCloser, you can find out more at rotaryglobalaction.org/one-step-closer or donate at raise.rotary.org/Global-Action/fundraiser