Rotarians make a splash to help wipe out polio
Feb. 12—WATERTOWN — Even though Jeffrey P. Combs doesn't consider himself much of a swimmer — wrestling was his thing in his high school days — he has been participating in the Noon Rotary Club's Swimarathon to help end polio for four years.
As he climbed out of the Watertown High School pool with a grin on his face on Saturday morning, Mr. Combs said he did eight laps — 16 lengths — figuring he raised about $10 per length.
"I think this might be the eleventh year we've done this so raising awareness, raising money, has just become an automatic thing," said Beth A. Linderman, event coordinator.
In addition to Ms. Linderman and Mr. Combs, Rotarians Jeff Barnard, Howie Ganter, Jeff Wood, Don Woodhouse and Diana Woodhouse expect to make quite a splash in Rotary International's End Polio Now campaign by bringing in about $6,000 through the pledges and donations for their swimming efforts, as they did last year.
Bill Gates — who has donated hundreds of millions of dollars toward the eradication of the disease, partnering with the Rotary Club and other organizations engaged in the effort around the world — pledged to match and double the funds raised, making the north country club's total expected contribution $18,000.
"It's one of the things Rotary does to change the world, and we're close. Were so close. There are a few rare cases and if we could just get them nailed down, the virus would be eliminated," Mr. Combs said.
According to information provided on Rotary International's website, Rotary is a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, working to help wipe out the disease worldwide for 35 years, reducing the number of cases by 99.9% since 1978.
"Afghanistan and Pakistan, that's all that's left." Mr. Combs said.
In those countries, however, the polio "wild virus" is still common. There are occasionally isolated cases of the debilitating and contagious disease that primarily affects children under 5 years of age that have popped up, including in Rockland County north of New York City last summer.
The polio vaccine is administered to children at least 2 months old.
The state Department of Health website indicates 79.1% of 2-year-olds in the state have been vaccinated. At the time of the Rockland County outbreak, about 60.5% of that county's 2-year-olds were vaccinated for polio.
Although the club likes to support the causes targeted by the national organization, they are primarily focused on making a positive impact locally through their activities and programs from road clean-up sessions to building trails in the park and tree planting around the city among others.
"I think that's the reason I really enjoy Rotary. They're very busy about doing things that make a difference," said Mr. Combs, who is also a former club president. "Anything we can do to help. That's Rotary."
