What do Italy’s Trevi Fountain, India’s Charminar monument, and the New York Stock , the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the Ogier Building at Camana Bay, Grand Cayman have in common?
Each of these Iconic landmarks will provide a dramatic backdrop for an equally dramatic message: End Polio Now. Those three words – representing Rotary’s pledge to rid the world of this crippling childhood disease —will be projected onto each structure during the week surrounding Feb 23, the humanitarian service organization’s 106th Anniversary.
These monuments join the other iconic landmarks that have carried the pledge in recent years: The Sydney Opera House, London’s Tower Bridge, the Roman Coliseum, Egypt’s Pyramid of Khafre, Chicago’s Wrigley Building, the Obelisk in Argentina, and the San Francisco Ferry Building.
"These global illuminations carry Rotary’s pledge to end polio—saying to the world that we will fight this crippling disease to the end" says Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, chair of The Rotary Foundation, which oversees Rotary’s polio eradication program. "It is our hope that people worldwide will see this visible pledge and join Rotary and its partners in this historic effort to rid the world of polio forever.".
Other examples of events happening on 23rd February Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith will ring the New York Stock Exchange closing bell during a ceremony with representatives from Rotary and Sanofi Pasteur, a leading provider of polio vaccine, in honour of Rotary’s 106th anniversary and in support of a polio free world.
Representatives of Rotary and Sanofi Pasteur will also take part in opening bell ceremonies in four financial markets in Europe that day: Lisbon, Portugal; Amsterdam; Brussels, Belgium; and Paris.
Certain schools around the world are holding "Wear it Purple" days during which children will exchange their uniforms for purple clothing. The color symbolizes the purple dye that Rotary volunteers and health workers in developing countries use to mark the pinky finger of a child who has received the oral vaccine.
In addition to the landmark light displays, the ringing of the Bell and other initiatives, the general public can join global celebrities on line including Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, Queen Noor of Jordan, actor Jackie Chan, Grammy Awarding winning singers Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, Golfer Jack Nicklaus, and environmentalist Dr. Jane Doodall as part of Rotary’s "This Close" advertising campaign at www.thisclose.net
Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority for more than two decades. Join the campaign – view and post on your Facebook pages the "This Close" polio campaign. http://www.youtube.com/user/RotaryInternational#p/u/6/ZVfaNJB8x1g