Breaking news...
Rotary clubs worldwide meet $200 million challenge

Polio Plus US$200 Million Challenge ProgressRotary International has succeeded in meeting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s US$200 million match in funding for polio eradication, raising more than $202.6 million as of January 17, 2012. 

“We’ll celebrate this milestone, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll stop raising money or spreading the word about polio eradication,” Rotary Foundation Trustee John F. Germ told Rotary leaders at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA. “We can’t stop until our entire world is certified as polio-free.” ...

“In recognition of Rotary’s great work, and to inspire Rotarians in the future, the [Gates] foundation is committing an additional $50 million to extend our partnership,” said Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation.
Read more>

Polio Eradication

Since the PolioPlus program's inception in 1985, more than two billion children have received oral polio vaccine.  After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.  As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.  "If we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio." - Bill Gates

We are this close ...

Visit Rotary's This Close web site.  Read about the matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to finish the job of eradicating polio.  You don't have to be a Rotarian to care...or to help.  Click on the End Polio Now logo below or text "polio" to 90999 to make a gift. 

Bill Gates at the RI Convention, New Orleans, May 24, 2011

Read the text of Bill Gates keynote speech, or watch it below.