Incoming Iowa Rotary club presidents in District 5970 celebrated their organization’s dedication to the worldwide eradication of polio with a $2,000 gift to The Rotary Foundation’s End Polio Now campaign.
The presidents-elect, who take office in July, contributed the funds during a recent training seminar in Rochester, Minnesota. Their contribution will be matched 2 for 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a total of $6,000 toward the eradication of polio.
“While every Rotary Club can select ways to serve its community, ending polio is Rotary’s common goal,” said Lisa Pritchard, president-elect of the Cedar Rapids Daybreak Rotary Club. “Thanks to efforts big and small — even a roomful of Rotarians at a training seminar — we will end polio.”
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Brenda Cressey, vice chair of the Rotary Foundation Trustees, left, accepts gifts totaling $2,000 for the eradication of polio from Lisa Pritchard, Cedar Rapids Daybreak Rotary Club, and Kathy Getting, Webster City Rotary Club. Don Meyer of Waverly, right, is District 5970’s 2018 Foundation Team leader. The district Rotary club presidents-elect donated the funds, which will be matched 2 for 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Neil Fell of Garner, District Governor-Elect, said the $6,000 raised by the 2018-19 Rotary Club presidents and the Gates Foundation match will insure that 2,000 children will never suffer from polio. He said the gift is a fitting way to celebrate World Immunization Week, April 23-30, recognizing the role Rotarians have played as volunteers in National Immunization Days throughout the world and in providing funds for the End Polio Now effort.
“When you can be part of a project that is a real game changer like polio eradication, it inspires and motivates us to do more and think bigger,” added Kathy Getting, president-elect of the Webster City Rotary Club.
Rotary District 5970 encompasses 53 Rotary clubs in the northern half of Iowa. Incoming club presidents attending the training seminar included:
Algona: Billie Wille
Anamosa: David Oldham
Belle Plaine: Lon Weber
Bellevue: Cindy Broders
Cedar Rapids: Mary Klinger, Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids; Patti Kunz, Cedar Rapids Metro North; Jonathan Fitch, Cedar Rapids Sunrise; Lisa Pritchard, Cedar Rapids Daybreak
Charles City: Staci Ackerson
Clear Lake: Lisa Roth
Decorah: Lorraine Borowski
Dubuque: Joey Taylor
Emmetsburg: Dave Van Oosbree
Estherville: Brent Baskerville
Forest City: Karla Weiss
Fort Dodge Daybreak: Andrea Swanstrom
Garner: Carol Peterson
Hampton: Becky Bradburn
Humboldt: Travis Fuller
Independence: Michelle McBride
Iowa Great Lakes: Bradley Jungers
Manchester: Doris Sherman
Mason City: Mark Meierotto, Rotary Club of Mason City; Les Seltun, River City Sunrise
Monticello: James Randolph
Mt. Vernon-Lisbon: Rebecca Schultz
New Hampton: Jill Fibikar
Oelwein: Josh Ehn
Pocahontas: Jeana Becker
Rockwell City: Carl Legore
Spencer: Nancy Naeve
Storm Lake: Jared Brashears
Sumner: Ann VanEnglenburg
Waterloo: Katelyn Tungland
Waverly: Dietrich Drenkow
Webster City: Kathy Getting