Purple pinkies prevent polio
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine —The University of Maine at Presque Isle and the Presque Isle Rotary Club are joining forces to host their Fourth Annual World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration and this year, with the help of Rotary in Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Limestone and Washburn, the celebration will once again spread throughout central Aroostook County.
A slate of activities will celebrate World Polio Day, which takes place Oct. 23, all meant to raise awareness of Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio worldwide and to raise money — $1 at a time‚ to go toward that global effort.
On Oct. 22, 2015 and at other times throughout the week, volunteers will color donors’ pinkies purple to help raise money for polio eradication. A purple pinkie serves as a symbol for one polio immunization. Funds raised will go toward Rotary International’s End Polio Now efforts.
“We’re delighted to be presenting our fourth annual World Polio Day event for our community and helping people to be a part of Rotary’s worldwide efforts to end polio now,” Frank Bemis, Presque Isle Rotary Club President, said. “Our World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project events and activities have become something of a tradition for this area and something our local schools have really embraced, so we’re very much looking forward to seeing hundreds of people young and old sporting purple pinkies in support of our efforts.”
Activities kicked off Oct. 17 when the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club hosted a Purple Pinkie table during its 2015 Cash Draw event. Purple Pinkie tables were to be set up during the Presque Isle and Caribou Rotary Clubs’ weekly meetings.
The Washburn Rotary Club will collect donations by placing jars at Trailside and Country Farms Market and by going door to door. Washburn Rotarians also will host Rodney and Barbara Leach to talk about their connection with the disease during their club meeting Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. in the Washburn Rec Center. Barbara Leach is a polio survivor. The public is invited to attend this presentation.
Also in celebration of World Polio Day, Rotarians across central Aroostook County will be wearing purple polo “polio” shirts.
Starting as early as 8 a.m. on Oct. 22, community members can take part in the Purple Pinkie Project, with people donating $1 to have their pinkies marked with the same purple dye used when Rotary International conducts polio immunizations. The estimated cost to immunize one child from polio is $1, and when each child gets immunized, Rotarians mark their pinkies with a topical purple dye to prevent double dosages.
Volunteers will be on hand to color the pinkies of anyone donating $1 at these stations: At UMPI, in the Center for Innovative Learning (formerly the Library), from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; at NMCC, in the Akeley Student Center, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; at TAMC, Main Entrance and cafeteria, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; and at UMPI’s Houlton Higher Education Center, at the front desk, from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Presque Isle High and Middle schools and Zippel Elementary School will host Purple Pinkie stations, and a station will be set up for employees at MMG Insurance.
Later in the week, the Limestone Rotary Club will partner with the Maine School of Science and Mathematics to host a Purple Pinkie Station of their own. And on Oct. 23 in the evening, during the club’s 65th annual auction, Limestone Rotarians will wear their purple shirts and take time to raise awareness.
Activities cap off with one last Purple Pinkie table, hosted by the Caribou Rotary Club during the Caribou Craft Fair Oct. 24-25 at Caribou High School. The club will host the table from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. both days of the craft fair.
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 fundraising total to well above $2,000. Last year’s event raised about $2,600 and saw an even greater number of community members participate.
For more information, contact UMPI’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452 or visit www.umpi.edu/worldpolioday.
