Rotary Clubs Lead By Serving Others February 24, 2011
Posted by John Stephens in : Charity , add a commentService clubs are part of the fabric of this country, with thousands of people volunteering their time each year in projects that benefit the community. Many of these acts and projects go unnoticed in the eyes of the general public, but service clubs fundraise and work their way into the hearts of people who are touched by their acts of kindness.
It is because of the great work that Rotarians do every year that I wanted to draw your attention to a ceremonial act that took place yesterday at the New York Stock Exchange. Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith rang the closing bell at the Exchange during a ceremony with representatives from Rotary and the group Sanofi Pasteur, a leading provider of polio vaccine, in honor of Rotary’s 106th anniversary and in support of a polio-free world. Representatives of the two organizations also took part in opening bell ceremonies in four financial markets in Europe yesterday: Lisbon, Portugal; Amsterdam; Brussels, Belgium; and Paris.
Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority for more than 20 years and it boggles the mind that polio still exists when it can be avoided with such a simple vaccine. The “End Polio Now” campaign is underway as Rotary looks to raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $555 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families. According to Rotary International, the incidence of polio infection has plunged worldwide from about 350,000 cases in 1988 to fewer than 1,000 cases in 2010. More than two billion children have been immunized in 122 countries, preventing five million cases of paralysis and 250,000 pediatric deaths.
You may be asking what this has to do with timeshare? Our president and CEO, Wesley Kogelman, has been a member of Rotary since 2006 and he is part of a new Rotary chapter which just opened in Nashua, New Hampshire. The Rotary Club of Souhegan Valley celebrated its new beginning on Monday with a visit from Mr. Klinginsmith before he headed down to the Big Apple for yesterday’s ceremony.
In case you’re wondering, Wesley is the guy with the glasses wearing the red tie on the left in the back of the photo. Mr. Klinginsmith is the man holding the new charter on the left with new chapter president, David Williamson, holding the charter to the right.
So our company is connected to Rotary through our chief executive, which means we wanted to bring this issue to your attention in case you, your family or someone you know has been affected by polio and wanted to do something to help.
By clicking here, you will be taken to a webpage where you can make a contribution to help Rotary battle this debilitating disease. If you choose to do so, you have our utmost thanks and we appreciate the step you’ve taken to join us in the fight.