Posted by Bill Hagborg on Dec 19, 2021
Rotary and Rotaract clubs from 8 Districts across Canada participated in Rotary’s “End Polio Now Tulip Campaign” in 2021, selling a total of 3,994 boxes of bulbs, in support of Rotary’s ongoing goal to see the complete eradication of this disease.
 
The net proceeds of $61,667.36, coupled with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Matching Grant of 2 to 1, will see a total contribution of just over $185,000 in funding going towards this critical initiative.
 
Clubs in our District [7010] sold 665 boxes, resulting in our share of the total proceeds coming in at $30,802.80.
 
The tulip campaign began in 2013 in the Netherlands, where the unique-coloured bulbs were first developed and have since spread to many Rotary clubs in Switzerland, Germany, France, the United States and over the past few years here in Canada through the efforts of Vesey's in Prince Edward Island and their Rotarian member employees.
 
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
 
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
 
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
 
Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
 
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