World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project a success
PRESQUE ISLE — With the help of the Rotary Clubs in Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Limestone and Washburn, the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the Presque Isle Rotary Club are declaring their third annual World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration — which spread throughout central Aroostook County and was held from Oct. 18-25 — a big success. All activities helped raise awareness of Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Combined efforts among the clubs helped to raise an estimated $2,600 for that global effort.
Contributed photo
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT PRESQUE ISLE employees, from left: Patti Hale, Laurie Boucher and Nola Belanger leave their marks at a Purple Pinkie station set up in the university’s Center for Innovative Learning on Oct. 24. Rotary Clubs in central Aroostook and UMPI teamed up to host this year’s World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration in October.
“We are absolutely delighted to have our joint World Polio Day activities bring so much awareness and raise so much funding for Rotary International’s End Polio Now efforts,” said Presque Isle Rotary Club President Scott Violette. “We’ve seen an outpouring of community support every year when we host our World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration, and this year was no exception. We’re estimating that about 2,000 people took part in this year’s Purple Pinkie Project. We’d especially like to thank our fellow Rotary Clubs for joining us, and the Caribou Rotary Club — in particular — for raising about half of this year’s funds.”
“Our club members stepped up to the plate to make the project the success it was. We had a total of 10 helpers, who helped in different ways — some worked at the booth and supplied equipment, while others set up the tents outside to protect us from the weather,” said Steve Mazerolle, who co-chaired Caribou’s Purple Pinkie Project with Mark Draper. “It was a cold and rainy day, but no complaints were heard from any of the Rotarians. Special kudos to Cary Medical Center who allowed us to use one of their vehicles to pick up and drop off the iron lung we borrowed from Eastern Maine Medical Center to display. We are truly blessed to live in such a giving community and I am proud to be a member of the Caribou Rotary Club and Chapter 7810.”
This year’s World Polio Day activities helped the area Rotary Clubs to significantly increase local awareness about Rotary’s worldwide fight to end polio and raise enough funding to ensure that thousands of children receive polio immunizations. World Polio Day takes place every year on Oct. 24.
One of the big ways the clubs celebrated the occasion was to host several Purple Pinkie Project stations around the region. Volunteers were on hand to color the pinkies of anyone willing to donate $1 toward Rotary International’s “End Polio Now” campaign. One dollar is the estimated cost to immunize one child from polio, so a purple pinkie serves as a symbol for one polio immunization. Similar Purple Pinkie projects have been held by Rotary Clubs around the country, with people donating $1 to have their pinkies marked with the same topical purple dye Rotary International uses when it conducts polio immunizations. The dye is used to prevent double dosages.
On Oct. 18, the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club hosted a Purple Pinkie table during its 2014 Cash Draw event.
“I’m pleased that the central Aroostook clubs came together to raise awareness and funding for this important project,” said Carl Young, Fort Fairfield Rotary Club president. “This was the first year for the Purple Pinkie Project table at our annual Cash Draw fundraiser and guests had a great time while supporting Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign.”
On the evening of Oct. 24, during the Limestone Rotary Club’s 64th annual auction, Limestone Rotarians wore their purple polo polio shirts and took time during the auction to raise awareness about Rotary International’s polio eradication efforts.
“The Limestone Rotary Club was excited to help raise awareness of how close Rotary International is to eliminating polio during our 64th annual Limestone Rotary Auction,” said Luke Shorty, the Limestone Rotarian who led up World Polio Day efforts for the club. “Many of us were sporting both the Rotary Blue and Eradicate Polio purple polos to help make sure we were doing our part to raise awareness and funds to finally eradicate this devastating disease.”
The Washburn Rotary Club hosted a World Polio Day fundraiser earlier in the month — a “Skip-A-Meal” activity, with proceeds going to the Purple Pinkie Project. Washburn Rotarians also will be hosting Rodney and Barbara Leach at an upcoming meeting to talk about their connection with the disease, as Barbara is a polio survivor. Rodney shared the couple’s story during last year’s second annual World Polio Day celebration.
“Our club was happy to be able to participate and looks forward to having more opportunities to contribute to the project,” said Cindy Richendollar, Washburn Rotary Club president. “It’s our privilege to be a part of such an important and worldwide effort.”
This year’s World Polio Day activities carried on a tradition of raising many local dollars for, and even more awareness about, Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio. The first annual World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project event, held in October 2012, saw an estimated 1,000 people in the community participate and initially raised $1,250. An anonymous donation of $1,000, however, pushed the fund-raising total to well above $2,000. Last year’s event raised another $1,775 and saw an even greater number of community members participate.
Since Rotary International began the fight against polio in 1985, the crippling disease has been reduced by more than 99 percent — from more than 350,000 people, mostly children, in 125 countries, to less than 300 cases so far this year. Attention is focused on three countries — Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan — which are still polio-endemic. By partnering with the World Health Organization and other government and private groups, Rotary International is working harder than ever to end polio. Experts say that if the job isn’t finished, the disease could rebound to 10 million cases in the next 40 years.
To learn more about the event, please visit www.umpi.edu/worldpolioday.
