To start, you can livestream Rotary International’s World Polio Day event, which is marking the occasion from the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, starting at 6:30 PM.  The event will highlight the steps being taken to reach Rotary’s goal of polio eradication. We’ll also celebrate 30 years of achievements by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

Closer to home, you can host your own viewing of the event, sponsor your own fundraiser, or participate in the events that neighboring clubs are running.  For example, the Brookline club has sponsored a video running on a screen outside in Coolidge Corner and asked pedestrians for donations. The Nashoba Valley club works with the schools in its regional school district to get donations from the students in exchange for a purple pinkie. To our north, the Gloucester club runs an annual polar plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter, raising thousands of dollars. Other clubs have sponsored races, “mic-athons,” and speaking events.

Last Friday, the people of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia looked on in horror as giant waves crashed onto their shores.  First, the island was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. Then a tsunami with 10 foot-high waves tore through the region, flattening everything in its path and turning thousands of homes into rubble.

Families have been left devastated as they struggle with the catastrophic aftermath. Thousands are still searching for lost family members, while also enduring landslides and power outages. It is estimated that more than 1,300 have died and over 50,000 people are homeless. 

ShelterBox already had a Response Team in Lombok, Indonesia following the August 6.9 magnitude earthquake which left 20,000 people homeless. ShelterBox has been in-country for the last month helping families recover from that event.

Sturbridge Rotarians Care

Last Friday, a group of Sturbridge Rotarians teamed up with school and community volunteers on projects that improved our communities and fostered community engagement and cooperation.  Sponsored by the United Way of Southbridge, Sturbridge and Charlton as a “Day of Caring”, teams of Rotarians and volunteers spanned out across the region to work on a diverse group of projects.