WARSAW — Lisa Waterman, Rotary District 6540 governor, and DeeAnna Muraski, president of the Rotary Club of Warsaw, will lead a one mile walk to raise awareness of Rotary’s global fight to eradicate Polio from the world.

Rotarians and friends will walk through downtown Warsaw starting at 1:30 p.m. Friday Oct. 20.  The walk will start at Little Crow Lofts on East Market Street and end at the intersection of Hand Avenue and West Center Street.  The intersection also is the location of the new Rotary Park.  Signs will be carried bearing the message “End Polio Now” which reminds everyone that polio cases are still being reported in other parts of the world. The public is invited to join the walk and can make donations in cash or with checks made payable to The Rotary Foundation.   

According to Rotary District Governor Waterman, “We have completed over 30 walks already this summer with Rotary Clubs throughout Northern Indiana!  During our walks, people are often surprised by our polio eradication message because, while most people have heard of polio, few know that the disease still is affecting children around the world.”

Waterman also added that while no new cases of polio have been recorded in the US since 1991, it remains active in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.  Unfortunately, if polio remains  anywhere in the world, it is a threat to the children of all nations everywhere.  We are only protected if our vaccination is sufficient to protect us from the infection.  The polio virus is highly transmittable through contact with contaminated human fecal matter, contaminated food and cooking surfaces and from sewage water.

Individual contributions may be sent to END POLIO NOW, Rotary Club of Warsaw, PO Box 1473, Warsaw, IN 46581.  

Local Rotary President DeeAnna Muraski said, “Our goal is to make people aware that the fight against polio is not over. Since we do not see it here in the US we assume it does not exist.  However, it does and we are so close to eradicating this awful disease world-wide.  We must double down on our efforts to achieve total eradication of the virus before we can rest on our efforts.”