An annual fundraiser to help eradicate polio is returning to Chatham-Kent.
The 8th annual Rotary Club of Chatham’s Pizza for Polio event takes place today, Wednesday October 26th, as part of the organization’s 30-year mission to rid the world of the crippling childhood disease.
Participating pizzerias include Andy’s Place, Konstantinos, Mike’s Place, Original 2 Pizza, Pizza Tonite, Pie-Zano’s, and Steve’s Pizzeria with a portion of their sales being donated to the cause.
To date, the local Rotary club has raised over $262,000.
“Our community should be very proud; thanks to their support of our Chatham Rotary polio eradication fundraising we have helped save the lives of more than 400,000 children over the past three decades,” said Alysson Storey, Interim Polio Eradication Chair for the Rotary Club of Chatham, “And we could not have gotten this far without the support of local businesses like our local pizza places. They have been enthusiastic about helping since we started this eight years ago and we couldn’t be more thankful.”
Since 1985, Rotary has contributed nearly $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. The disease remains endemic in two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan — although other countries remain at risk for imported cases.
