Rotary International in 100 Mile House wants you to join them in their fight to eliminate polio at a fundraiser on Oct. 15.
The club is having a yard sale in the parking lot at Cask and Cleaver Brewing from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to the items on sale, the club will have a donation jar set up for anyone wishing to make a contribution according to Wolfgang Paasche, president of the local club.
Paasche emphasized that although it is called a yard sale it is a fundraising campaign with the proceeds to be used in the fight against polio.
“We didn’t want to call it a yard sale. We did one thing last year, two years ago, and people come in and take precious things and say ‘okay, I give you five bucks for it.’ So we kind of wanted to emphasize fundraising,” he said.
The Rotary website describes polio as a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. The polio virus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines, but it is not curable. Unlike most diseases, polio can be eradicated.
When Rotary became involved in 1985, there were 350,000 cases worldwide every year. That number is now down to 150 cases, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.
Anybody who would like to contribute items to the sale or might be interested in joining Rotary can contact Paasche by email at paaswo@bcinternet.net or by phone at 250-397-2970.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
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