Members of the Rotary Club in Belpre accepted more than $1,700 in donations toward efforts to achieve the worldwide eradication of polio from restaurant owners at the March 18 club meeting. From left, Rotarian Linda Robinson, Dawn and Daniel Close of Parkersburg VFW Post 1212, Belpre Rotary Club President Travis Williams, Helena Jones of Belpre Wings Etc., George Tannous of George’s Place Bar and Grill and Rotarian Sid Brackenridge. (Photo provided)

BELPRE — The Belpre Rotary Club has joined the efforts of Rotary International in the worldwide eradication of polio through awareness and fundraising campaigns, club President Travis Williams said.

Club members invited the public in October to join its annual world polio awareness campaign by joining local restaurants, retailers, organizations and service providers who donated a portion of their sales and proceeds to the cause.

Business donors were Boaz Mini Golf; Belair’s Bistro; Panera Bread; George’s Place Bar and Grill; VFW Post 1212; Healthy Hustle in Parkersburg, Belpre and Vincent; Wings Etc. in Belpre; The Flower Daddy; Texas Roadhouse; and the Belpre City Schools Haunted Bus project from the Interact Club.

Williams welcomed representatives from the donor group as guests of club members for recognition at the March 18 club meeting.

The campaign included $1,751.64 that was donated to efforts to provide oral polio vaccines across the globe. Donations were matched by the Bill Gates Foundation at $2 for each $1, according to Rotarian Linda Robinson.

Rotary International has been dedicated to the eradication of polio for more than 45 years. Rotary’s first polio project was to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.

Inspired by that successful campaign, Rotary became a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, which has reduced polio cases around the world by 99.9%.

Rotary has contributed more than $2.9 billion in PolioPlus grants and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 3 billion children in 122 countries from this disease. Rotary’s efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $11 billion to the effort.

Today, polio remains an epidemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Jim Rogers, past assistant governor of Ohio Rotary District 6690, encouraged Belpre Rotarians to contribute at least $50 each to the eradication effort through the PolioPlus Fund. Forty-one cases were reported in the world last year, he said.

“Should we fail, polio will surge,” he cautioned.