“It is hard having no news. You hear blasts and do not know what is happening. But polio does not allow us time to think of ourselves much.” Australian Rotarian Jenny Horton e-mailed that message from her World Health Organization office in Islamabad as turmoil rocked Pakistan in November.

Horton had just helped with a successful polio eradication campaign, which ended shortly before the crisis hit. While children in Pakistan were being immunized, Rotarians from Canada and the United States worked alongside their local counterparts to help end polio in Ethiopia, and club members from England did the same in India.

At the same time, Rotarians worldwide were holding fundraisers, writing newspaper editorials, approaching governments and corporations for donations, and strategizing with their major partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, founded 20 years ago.

These Rotarians pushed hard because the world now faces its greatest opportunity to end polio, owing partly to a US$200 million partnership between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International. Every Rotarian needs to take action now so the world can become polio-free – and forever remember Rotary’s finest hour. Rotary is asking each club to raise $1,000 annually for polio eradication over the next three years. All Rotarians, especially new members, are encouraged to participate in this historic effort. Learn more about how you can be a part of this amazing global legacy.