Sisters Rotary sponsors polio fundraiser

This Saturday, October 24, Sisters Rotary Club will be honoring World Polio Day by displaying an iron lung at Ray's Food Place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Harriett Schloer, Rotary District 5110 polio eradication chair said, "The iron lung in our district was given to us by Good Samaritan Hospital in Eugene about 10 years ago. We refurbished it and will use it to raise funds to eradicate polio," she said.

The iron lung was invented around 1928 to help people breathe who were crippled with polio, a viral disease that affects the nervous system and can lead to varying degrees of paralysis. Less than three dozen iron lungs remain in use today as worldwide incidence of polio wanes and other treatment methods gain in popularity.

"We are calling it Pennies for Polio," said Kathryn Johnson, president of the Sisters Rotary, of the fundraiser. "People can donate any amount they like.

"We have eradicated polio in all but four countries," Johnson noted. Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan remain infested with polio, but the possibility remains that polio will spread out of those areas to other countries.

Statistics report that if polio is not stopped now, 10 million children could become infected in the next 40 years.

"Bill Gates gave Rotary International $100 million in 2008, earmarked to eradicate polio, on the condition that we match funds by the year 2012," Johnson said.

"It is Rotary International's number-one priority to eradicate polio in the world," Schloer said. "Until it's eradicated everywhere it is just a plane ride away."