An Orestimba (California) High-based “Pennies for Polio” drive held Halloween night collected $1,265 for the effort to eliminate polio worldwide.Twenty-three Orestimba Interact Club members and six members of the Hispanic Youth Leadership Council (HYLC) went door to door collecting in the annual Halloween campaign, which was among the most successful ever.Pennies alone added up to significant dollars, with 15,849 copper coins collected. (click below to read more)
Newman Rotarians, school staff members, parents of members and a representative of the Newman Lions Club drove the students on 14 routes through the community.
Lori Machado, Interact advisor, and Alicia Cerna, HYLC advisor, were in charge of the planning. Interact President Paul Grimaldo was student chair, assisted by Jocelyne Lainez.
The donations will support an ongoing Rotary International campaign to rid the world of polio. That effort was started in 1985 in response to a polio epidemic in the Philippines, and has since been taken to every country in the world.
In the years since the polio campaign was started, the number of new cases annually has fallen from 350,000 to 223. Polio, present in 135 nations in 1985, was endemic in only three last year.
Newman Rotary has been among the supporters of the project. A few years ago, Newman Rotarians raised more than $20,000 in a three-year campaign to support the fight against polio.
Vaccinations which provide lifelong protection cost only 60 cents – so the generosity of the Newman community on Halloween night will provide vaccinations for more than 2,500 children.
(Submitted by Bob McConnell, Newman Rotary Club)
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