Calendar:
- December 1, 2023 – CPY Winter Gala 6-10 p.m. @ New Brighton Community Center
- December 5 –11 @ Exchange - Board Gold Plate Dinner Planning, Everyone included
- December 5 – noon Club meeting @ The Exchange
- December 19 – Annual Holiday celebration with Irondale Choir, noon @ Mounds View Community Center
- January 6 - D5960 midterm @ Hamline U
- April 19, 2024 – Gold Plate Dinner at Mounds View Community Center
Notes:
- Natalie Streich, was officially welcomed as a new member of Rotary International and of the New Brighton/Mounds View Rotary Club. She is the Recruitment and Retention Coordinator for the Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Mounds View Fire Department. Cindy Carlson and Nyle Zikmund are shown with Natalie below.
- Please join the Board at the Exchange at 11 a.m. on December 5 to discuss the Gold Plate Dinner, including selection of the Fund-a-Cause recipient.
- Jason, Jeff, Nyle and George are responsible for November and December programs, and meeting place set up and take down. Dana, Jim, Geoff and Devon have January and February; Charlie, Dave, the Jacobsen’s and John J have March and April; and John O, Cindy, Mary, Nils and Susie have May and June. Please let John Johnson and Jason Miller know what the programs will be.
- Reminder - Guest meals are now only $15. Indicate on the order form if you prefer cole slaw or salad to fries, and any necessary dietary requirements.
Program:
Mike McGovern, Chair of the International Polio Plus Committee of RI, Past-Vice President of RI, and Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, addressed the Club by video recording. Some takeaways:
- Since RI launched the effort to eradicate polio in 1985, more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries have received the oral polio vaccine.
- On one recent NID (National Immunization Day) alone, 40 million children were vaccinated, all funded by RI. We are immunizing 450–500 million children per year.
- Partners who have joined our effort include UNESCO, WHO and USCDC. There is an Independent Monitoring Board.
- The Gates Foundation matches Polio Plus donations 2-1 up to $100,000,000.00.
- The “Plus” in Polio Plus refers to the use of the connections, volunteers, infrastructure and health care systems developed for polio eradication also being used to fight the Ebola and Covid-19 epidemics.
- Afghanistan and Pakistan each have “very narrow” areas with polio. Last year, RI funded billboards in Afghanistan urging parents to present their children for vaccination.
- A country is certified “Polio Free” when there are no cases of wild polio and there is adequate surveillance (labs, medical facilities, etc.) to assure accuracy.
- Polio workers have been targeted by the Taliban in Pakistan.