The Rotary Club of Silver City is hosting an "End Polio Now" reception on Tuesday, October 14, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the Silver City Food Co-op Annex, 614 N. Bullard Street in Silver City.

The reception, open to the public, is designed to familiarize the community with the challenges involved in eradicating polio worldwide and with the progress that has been made to date. It is also a "call to action," inviting attendees to join the efforts to bring an end to this disease and to support the work that Rotary and others are doing to complete this fight. During the event, Rotary District Governor Lonnie Leslie will give a report on the state of the world-wide battle against polio and will share a brief video presentation on the role of individual contributors in ending this disease which has destroyed so many lives. Refreshments will be served throughout the reception. There is no charge for admission to the reception, although attendees are urged to make a tax-deductible donation to the Rotary Foundation's End Polio Now fund.

Polio, the dread disease that seems only a memory in this country, is still endemic in a small number of countries in Africa and Asia. As long as polio is not fully defeated it continues to represent a threat even here in the United States. Global interconnectedness and lack of universal vaccinations mean that polio could once again strike even in this country as long as it is still rampant is such places as Pakistan and Nigeria.

Thanks to the initiative of the Rotary Foundation, the work of Rotary clubs around the world, and support from the World Health Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are now getting this close to eradicating this plague throughout the world. As Silver City Rotary Club President Peter Falley states, "We intend to be a part of this final push to end polio in the world, and we hope that our colleagues and friends in Silver City will join us in this effort."

For more information, call Sunny Yates at (575) 313-2200 or Linda Telaak at (575) 534-1135.