To the editor:
With the help of the Rotary Clubs in Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Limestone, Mars Hill and Washburn, the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the Presque Isle Rotary Club are declaring their fourth annual World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration — which spread throughout central Aroostook County and was held between Oct. 17-25 — a big success. All activities helped to raise awareness of Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Combined efforts among the clubs helped to raise $2,600 for that global effort.
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 took place this year on Oct. 23.
One of the big ways the Rotary 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; $1 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.
World Polio Day activities included:
On Oct. 17, the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club hosted a Purple Pinkie table during its 2015 Cash Draw event.
On Oct. 19 and 20, Purple Pinkie tables were set up during the Presque Isle and Mars Hill Rotary Clubs’ respective weekly meetings.
On Oct. 21, the Washburn Rotary Club hosted Rodney and Barbara Leach for a polio talk during a regular club meeting. Club members also collected End Polio Now donations at Trailside and Country Farms Market, and by going door to door in the community.
On Oct. 22, Presque Isle Rotarians hosted Purple Pinkie stations at Zippel Elementary School, Presque Isle High School and Presque Isle Middle School. UMPI Business Club members also hosted a Purple Pinkie station for employees at MMG Insurance.
Also on Oct. 22, community members were able to take part in the Purple Pinkie Project at stations set up at UMPI, Northern Maine Community College, TAMC, and UMPI’s Houlton Higher Education Center.
On the evening of Oct. 23, during the Limestone Rotary Club’s 65th Annual Auction, Limestone Rotarians helped to raise awareness about Rotary’s polio eradication efforts. Club members also collaborated with the Maine School of Science and Mathematics to host a Purple Pinkie Project table in early November during school hours.
Activities capped-off with one last Purple Pinkie table on Oct. 24-25, hosted by the Caribou Rotary Club during the Caribou Craft Fair.
Several other sites, including Loring Job Corps Center, Hampton Inn of Presque Isle, and Emera Maine participated in Purple Pinkie efforts during the week.
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 fundraising total to well above $2,000. Last year’s event raised more than $2,500 and saw an even greater number of community members participate.
Since Rotary International began the fight against polio in 1985, the 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. 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.
This year’s event was sponsored by TAMC, NMCC, and MMG Insurance. To learn more about the event, please visit www.umpi.edu/worldpolioday
