JOIN US TUESDAY, OCT 24 
FROM 5-9PM @ WT BREWS
Come purchase WT Brews New York State made beverages, including their own craft beers,
and a portion of all sales will go to support ourglobal effort to eradicate this crippling disease
(learn more further down).
We'll also have information about eradicating polio, trivia and prizes.
 
Check out the photos from our previous event below too.
 
This event is a partnership between Baldwinsville Rotary, a community service organization
that's been helping others in Baldwinsville for 50+ years, and WT Brews,
a B'ville-based farm brewery, serving up local libations and amazing collaborations for charity!
 
 
 
Not that you should need too much motivation for a happy hour and live music, but you are probably asking yourself,
Why am I being asked to help raise money to fight polio? Hasn't that disease been gone for a long time?
Unfortunately, there are two countries in the world where people are at risk of getting this disease, which can leave children crippled (and often shunned) for life. Afghanistan and Pakistan have had about 20 news cases combined this year. That's WAY down from when the world saw 350,000 new cases each year back in the 1980's, but we are really looking to completely eradicate this thing.
Because of how the disease is transmitted, if it exists anywhere in the world, it can spread.
 
What do I need to know about the recent case in New York State and our current state of emergency?
The case of polio in New York is a perfect example of why complete eradication is necessary and why vaccination is the key to achieving it. First, please know that if you are vaccinated, you have no need to worry about this recent outbreak. The counties that are impacted by this are home to communities with very low vaccination rates. Some of these communities are only about 37% vaccinated, when the national average is over 90%. This is why the virus has been able to spread enough to show up in wastewater testing, prompting the state of emergency to provide more resources to fight it.
 
How serious is this outbreak?
We know that when there is a polio diagnosis that results in paralysis, there are at least 100 more because it is less common to see paralysis. About one in every 100 cases leaves the infected person paralyzed, so for those working in polio eradication it was not a surprise that the virus was found in wastewater testing. It's likely all the other people who contracted it only experienced mild, cold-like symptoms that they could have chalked up to being a regular cold or, given the current global health crisis, possibly COVID-19.

With over 90% of children in the US receiving the three doses of vaccine that will protect them, most of the country has the benefit of herd immunity and can prevent community spread. The case in New York happened to be in communities that do not have those same protections despite decades of having a proven and effective vaccine available.

You can read more about this here.
 
You might also be wondering, can you really eradicate a disease?
Valid question! It's only ever been done once before in human history (small pox).
But we know we can because we've been doing it all around the world for decades. For the past thirty years, Rotary, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, has checked off country after country, continent after continent, marking them free from polio.
Africa is the most recent continent to be declared free of the wild polio virus this year!
The remaining endemic countries pose a special challenge due to unrest in the region.
Today, not only are we committed, Bill & Melinda Gates are on the project too. They match every dollar contributed 2 to 1.
So each dollar WT Brews donates from your beer purchase at B'ville Pints for Polio will get matched by the Gates Foundation,
turning $1 into $3!
 
Why are we talking about polio? Isn't COVID-19 is a much bigger issue?
Rotary has contributed tens of millions of dollars to helping during the pandemic in countries all over the world. The immediate work of serving others during the pandemic has been happening since it began and will continue as long as there is need.
Our polio vaccination efforts were halted for several months when it was unsafe for volunteers to be traveling and people to be gathering. However, thanks to our polio eradication work, Rotary has established networks, experts in contact tracing and the ability to implement public health initiatives that are going to not only help resume our work to fight polio, but will serve communities around the world in battling coronavirus as well. The coronavirus vaccine is being distributed through the systems we established. We sometimes refer to our initiative as "Polio Plus," and that "plus" is all the other healthcare benefits that the program brings to areas of the world that have almost no access at all.
Rotarians can walk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, we have seven areas of focus that we work on in different ways to address community development, maternal health, peace, sanitation and clean water, the environment, literacy and basic education, and, of course, disease prevention. We hope you will join us on our diverse adventures of community service!
 
And then there's a question we get once in a while,
What is Rotary?
Rotary is the world's biggest and best community service organization. There are 36,000+ volunteer-run clubs in communities all around the world, doing projects big (like eradicating polio) and small (helping install a Little Free Library). While doing these projects and fundraisers, members (called "Rotarians") make friends, learn a lot about where they live and gain personal fulfillment from helping others. The Baldwinsville Rotary Club has been around since 1972 and in five decades of community service we have fed the hungry, supported our veterans, provided scholarships, built buildings, cleaned parks, encouraged cultural exchange, written A LOT of checks to organizations that provide vital services to our friends and neighbors, and so much more!
 
We're a fun group that is excited to combine our love of happy hours with fighting polio.
We hope you can join us!