2022-10-18 Item IV.F _ vKeechobee, 14loriaa
WHEREAS, Rotary is a global network of neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem -solvers
who unite and take action to create lasting change in communities across the globe; and
WHEREAS, the Rotary motto, Service Above Self, inspires members to provide humanitarian
service, follow high ethical standards, and promote goodwill and peace in the world; and
WHEREAS, Rotary in 1985 launched PolioPlus and in 1988 helped establish the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative, which today includes the World Health Organization, U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to immunize the children of the world
against polio; and
WHEREAS, polio cases have dropped by 99.9 percent since 1988 and the world stands on the
threshold of eradicating the disease; and
WHEREAS, to date, Rotary has contributed more than $2.2 billion dollars and countless
volunteer hours to protecting nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries. Rotary is
working to raise an additional $50 million per year, which would be leveraged for
maximum impact by an additional $100 million annually from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation; and
WHEREAS, these efforts are providing much -needed operational support, medical staff,
laboratory equipment, and educational materials for health workers and parents. Rotary
has played a major role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $10
billion to the effort; and
WHEREAS, there are over 1.2 million Rotary members in more than 36,000 clubs throughout
the world that sponsor service projects to address such critical issues as poverty,
disease, hunger, illiteracy, and the environment in their local communities and abroad.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Dowling R. Watford, Jr., Mayor of the City of Okeechobee, Florida,
do hereby proclaim October 24, 2022, as World Polio Day in the City of Okeechobee'
and encourage all citizens to join me and the Rotary Club of Okeechobee and Rotary
International in the fight for a polio -free world.
In witness whereof, on October 18, 2o22, I have
set my handiand caused this seal to be�affxed