Why We Must Keep "Eradicate Polio Now" As Our #1 Priority
Prior to the Polio+ program presented by Bob Presman; a number of Rockford Rotarians have qualified for Paul Harris Fellow awards. A Paul Harris Fellow is given when a person (they do not have to be a Rotarian) gives at least $1,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. For each additional $1,000 donated, another award is given. A Paull Harris Fellow+1 means at least $2,000 has been contributed, on up to Paul Harris Fellow +8 which means $9,000 has been contributed. When the $10,000 level is reached, the person becomes a Major Donor. The following members have qualified for various levels of Paul Harris Fellow.
Jennifer Furst - PHF
Tom Scoville - PHF+2
Becky Rundquist - PHF+2
Pete Rundquist - PHF+2
Darlene Furst - PHF+2
Beth Thacker - PHF+3
Dave Rydell - PHF+3
Warren Heinke - PHF+3
Wray Howard - PHF+4
Tylor Carlin - PHF+5
Robert Canfield - PHF+6
Congratulations to all of these members for their continued support of the Rotary International Foundation.
Jennifer Furst accepted a 4-Way Test plaque on behalf of FurstStaffing to display in their office.
She also accepted a Paul Harris Fellow for her donation of over $1,000 to the Rotary International Foundation.
Rotary Foundation chair, Bob Canfield, presented Becky Rundquist and Pete Rundquist with their Paul Harris Fellow +2 awards which indicates that they each have contributed at least $3,000 to the Rotary International Foundation.
Beth Thacker was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow +3 award for contributing at least $4,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. She is pictured with President Pete and Bob Canfield, Foundation Chair.
Wray Howard accepted a Paul Harris Fellow +4 for his contributions of at least $5,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. By now you can figure out who the other two gentlemen are.
Taylor Carlin is presented with a Paul Harris Fellow +5 which as you probably have figured out by now means that he has contributed at least $6,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. He is pictured with the usual suspects.
Foundation Chair Bob Canfield is leading by example by accepting a Paul Harris +6 award for contributing over $7,000 to the Rotary International Foundation.
After the presentation of the Paul Harris Fellow awards, Bob Presman gave a program on why we need to keep Polio + as our #1 Priority. This Rotary program was started in the mid 80's with over 160 countries with polio cases.
We are 99.9% complete with only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which still have polio cases. The political problems in those two countries have prevented volunteers from administering the polio vaccine to the children in those countries.
There is hope for the future because the political and religious leaders of those two countries have started letting volunteers into the countries to vaccinate the children. That's why we need to keep funding Polio + so polio can be eliminated from the face of the earth. Keep those donations coming.
After Bob's presentation, two tennis balls that were used in the Australian Open, and were autographed by Past RI President Jennifer Jones, were auctioned off. Bob Presman won the first tennis ball with a $100 bid. There wasn't much of a challenge because he is a tennis player and did a great presentation. However, the second auction was much livelier between John Mecklenburg in Memorial Hall and Past President and Past District Governor Kent Mallquist from Texas via zoom. John eventually prevailed with a bid of $250.
Over $1,000 was raised with contributions from those in attendance, the sale of Polio+ T-shirts, and the $350 from the tennis ball auction. A big thanks to Bob Presman, Paul Logli, and John Mecklenburg for their help in making our Polio program a success.