Achieving eradication will be difficult (only one other disease, smallpox, has ever been eradicated) and expensive (estimated cost to the international community is nearly $2 billion). It will require continuing immunization of children worldwide, and it also must include systematic reporting of all suspected cases, community-wide vaccination to contain outbreaks of the disease, and establishment of laboratory networks. Rotary will not be alone in all these efforts but in partnership with national governments, the World and Pan American Health Organizations, UNICEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Rotary's "people power" gives us a special "hands on" role. Rotarians in developing countries have given thousands of hours and countless in-kind gifts to help eradication happen in their countries.
No other non-governmental organization ever has made a commitment of the scale of PolioPlus. Truly it may be considered the greatest humanitarian service the world has ever seen. 

October 24th is World Polio Day

Announcements:

 

 

Bill thanked the speakers. 

 

I was born and raised in East Yorkshire by working class parents (yes, England had a class system!). At age 11  I received a scholarship to attend Hymers College, then a boys-only, semi-private school. There I played rugby and cricket and achieved modest academic success. At age 18 I opted not to go on to
university, but instead to pursue a career in banking. I was hired by Barclays Bank and did my “apprenticeship” there for four years. The banks in Canada were expanding their branch network in the 1970’s and were hiring from the U.K. I thought that might be a great adventure. I had friends who’d recently moved to Vancouver, so I applied to the Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal, was offered jobs by both, and opted for the latter. In February 1974 I immigrated to Canada. My first training branch was
Tsawwassen (I soon learned how to spell that) but I lived in Vancouver’s West End so I became a commuter going against the tide for 12 months. I continued to play rugby, for the Vancouver Rowing Club, and at one of their fundraising dances I met
my bride-to-be Barbara. We married in 1976 and lived on Beach Ave on English Bay. We bought our first house in North Delta in 1978, and our son, Christopher, was born in 1980. We moved to New Westminster in 1982 to be more central for work, and in 1983 our daughter, Allison, was born. Over the 19 years we lived on the Lower Mainland I worked in 13 locations in various levels of branch management and commercial lending, including a couple of years in the Bank’s divisional office marketing department. The Lower Mainland was Canada’s bank robbery central in the 1980’s – somewhat stressful!
We were always involved in our children’s sports and activities. Barbara coached soccer and was a brownie leader, I was a cub leader, plus I joined the New Westminster Lions Club. And we had become active members of our local Presbyterian Church.
In 1993 we moved to Nanaimo, and the following year I became the Community Banking Manager (Area Manager) for Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni. In Port Alberni we had a strong relationship with the Nuu-cha-nulth Tribal Council, and planned and opened a branch on Tse-shaht First Nation
territory - one of 11 BMO branches on Indigenous land in Canada at the time. This was a very rewarding experience. In 2003 I was offered a job in BMO Private Banking, which is where I spent the last 10 years of my career. It was the best team I worked with in my 43 years in the industry. I retired in 2013.
Bruce Coleman invited me to Rotary and I joined in 1994. He and I attended the same church – St. Andrew’s Presbyterian. There I served on the Board of Managers, later became Treasurer and was an elder (council member) for 6 years. I’m still very involved, among other things chairing the Endowment
Fund committee.
I enjoy travel – which started with my parents (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden) in my early teens, a short exchange to West Germany at 15, and many, many other destinations in adult life. In Rotary I have been club president twice (2001-02 and 2016-17) and for a brief time was on the 5020 membership committee.