Byesville Rotary Kick-off Pennies for Polio Challenge

Pictured: Devvon Dettra, Principal, Meadowbrook High School; and Rhonda Stemmer, Byesville Rotary Co-Chair of the Pennies for Polio Challenge, counting pennies for the Challenge.

The Penny War Challenge has begun. Byesville Rotary members are collecting pennies in hopes of winning the trophy again for Meadowbrook. This is second annual “Pennies for Polio Challenge.” The Byesville and Cambridge Rotary clubs are using the challenge to raise monies to fight polio and to see which school—Meadowbrook or Cambridge has the most supporters. The school collecting the most pennies will have the honor of displaying the Pennies for Polio Challenge trophy for the next year. 

For the last year the trophy has proudly resided at Meadowbrook High School. Byesville Rotary expects the competition to be harder fought this year.

The rules are simple: pennies ONLY are counted toward the schools total; silver coins and paper bills are counted against the schools total. Meadowbrook supporters can help Meadowbrook retain the trophy by donating silver coins and paper money to Cambridge. 

What is going to happen to all the donations? It is going to be donated to the Rotary International project to eliminate polio. This highly contagious disease—which prefers to strike at children under 5 and older adults—can paralyze and even kill by attacking a person’s nervous system. There is no cure and recovery can be lengthy. Many people never fully recovery from the paralysis.

Polio can be prevented with a simple inoculation. Rotary, in partnership with the Bill Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, uses donations to purchase the polio vaccine and vaccinates children around the world. Currently there are only 3 countries in the world where polio occurs

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You have never heard of polio cases in the United States? That is because we have eliminated polio in our country. And because we have eliminated the disease, fewer and fewer of our kids are vaccinated against it. That puts our kids at risk if an infected person happens to travel to the US.

A donation to the Pennies for Polio Challenge will help reduce that risk.

We just want your pennies—the ones hiding in your cup holder or laying around your house that aren’t any use to you. It won’t cost you much to make a donation—and both Cambridge and  Byesville Rotarians will thank you for your donation.

Penny donations are being accepted at the Rolling Hills Schools and at the Guernsey County DD.  Watch for collections jars to appear at other locations.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. The club meets 7:30 am, Tuesday at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Walk-ins are welcome at the club’s meeting. #6690

Byesville Rotary celebrates World Polio Day

On October 24, Rotary clubs all over the world will celebrate World Polio Day. To mark the event, Byesville Rotary is hosting two events.

Join Byesville Rotary at their Pints for Polio celebration being held at the Wagon Wheel Bar and Grill in Buffalo on Wednesday, October 2, at 5:00. “Pints for Polio is a party with a purpose,” said Melinda Yerian, chair of the event. “Participants will join Bill and Melinda Gates, Rotary International, members of the Byesville Rotary Club, and the Wagon Wheel staff in eliminating polio from the world.”

A $5.00 donation buys an exclusive Pints for Polio mug which The Wagon Wheel is going to fill with the beverage of your choice for free. The Wagon Wheel will donate $1 to Polio eradication for each additional drink purchased. Each one of those dollars will be matched 2 to 1 by Bill and Melinda Gates. Your $5 donation turns into $15 to help eradicate Polio! You can also have an opportunity to win the 50/50 being held by the Byesville Rotary.

The second event is the “Pennies for Polio Challenge.” This is the second year Byesville and Cambridge Rotaries will be holding this contest. The clubs are using the challenge to raise monies to fight polio by seeing which club can raise the most pennies by getting supporters of Meadowbrook and Cambridge high schools to donate pennies to the Rotary International project to eliminate polio. Support your school by donating pennies (translation—help Byesville Rotary support Meadowbrook).

Last year, Byesville Rotary/Meadowbrook won the challenge. Rhonda Stemmer, Byesville Rotary 2018 president, accepted the trophy at the annual Bobcat/Colt football game. Byesville Rotary expects the competition to be harder fought this year.

Penny donations are being accepted at the Rolling Hills Schools and at the Guernsey County DD.  Watch for collections jars to appear at other locations.

Why do Rotary members care about eliminating polio? Why should you care? Polio is highly contagious and is spread from person to person. It attacks the nervous system and causes paralysis or death. It mainly affects kids under 5. There is no cure—but a vaccine can prevent it kids or adults being crippled and put in wheelchairs, braces or crutches.

Since 1988, when Rotary and its partners began this fight, cases have been reduced by 99.9%. We could quit the fight now, but if we do not eliminate the disease, an estimated 200,000 cases could reoccur every year. We no longer give our kids the vaccine because they U. S. has eliminated polio. Without the vaccine, our kids and grandkids could be at risk. We need to finish the fight and eliminate the disease.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. The club meets 7:30 am, Tuesday at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Walk-ins are welcome at the club’s meeting. #6690