Rotary inducted into Polio Hall of Fame

EVANSTON, Ill., (13 November 2008) – In recognition of its contributions to global polio eradication, Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative will be inducted into the Polio Hall of Fame at the Georgia Department of Labor’s (GDOL) Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation (RWSIR) next month. The 50^th Anniversary ceremony will be held Friday, November 14th, at 3:30 p.m. at the Institute’s historic Quadrangle. The public is invited. 

The four new inductees are the spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: Rotary International (RI), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  They will join the original 17 inductees, which included leaders and scientists responsible for the development of the vaccines that eradicated polio in this country and the modern world. 

“It promises to be a great day and a great way to honor what these organizations,” said Roosevelt Warm Springs Executive Director Greg Schmieg. “Polio is still an ongoing problem in many parts of the world and what Rotary and the others have done and continue to do remains a tremendous service for all mankind that deserves to be recognized.”

Rotary International is currently in the process of working to raise $100 million over the next three years to match a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help eradicate polio worldwide. 

Rotary International and the other new inductees will be enshrined on a large bronze plaque detailing their contributions to the ongoing eradication efforts. The new plaques will be permanently placed in front of the existing monument, which was first unveiled by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1958.  A renewal of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Founders Day Dinner will follow the induction ceremony in historic Georgia Hall at 7 p.m.  

For more information on the ceremony or to make a reservation for the Founders Day Dinner, call 706-655-5669.

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Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary clubs have been serving communities worldwide for more than a century.