One Small Community Making a Big Difference

One small community made a big difference by partnering with the Mineral Wells Rotary Club to benefit the Rotary Foundation’s End Polio Now program.  Currently in its second year, the World’s Greatest Meal brought in approximately $2000, which will be matched 2-to-1 with the generous donation from the Bill Gates Foundation.  This event relied not only from the underwriters and participants, but on the many Rotarian volunteers that were involved in the preparation, serving, and cleanup of the meal.

 

Beth Watson, Chair of International Services for the Mineral Wells Rotary Club carefully selected a dish whose recipe originated in South Asia, Chicken Tikka Masala.  Served on top a bed of rice, each person received one serving of this signature dish. This frugal meal allowed those involved to gain some perspective of what the event truly represented and a looped video explaining the eradication initiative of Rotary served as a reminder of our vow to help end this crippling disease.

 

The suggested donation was $10.00, the cost of a typical lunch.  However, most participants generously gave more to the cause.  The nonprofit’s event “World’s Greatest Meal” drew over 115 guests for the lunch on February 24, at Linkfield Services, Inc.  The Rotary Club of Mineral Wells was overwhelmed by the response of their community.  Committee chair, Beth Watson said, “It was about raising awareness of Rotary International and the eradication of Polio.  The World’s Greatest Meal continues to bring people together for a delicious meal, while reminding us of the importance of the ongoing services we provide for those in needs.  The individuals who attended the luncheon came to support the cause.  It is important to build lasting relationships with our community, and that was accomplished in a big way”.

 

In 1985, Rotary International started planning the largest immunization program in world's history, the goal of eradicating Poliomyelitis worldwide, and now Rotary is very close to achieving that objective. Talking about polio is important to raise awareness for the cause and for the work Rotary is doing globally, especially in a country where the disease has been eradicated.  The more people know the details about what Rotary is and does, the more opportunities Rotarians have to make changes in their communities.  Visit www.endpolio.org  to learn more about Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign.

 

According to the World’s Greatest Meal website, “As of March 11, 2016, there have been 2,428 events registered in 71 countries, more than 142,100 participants worldwide, $5,530,038.90 raised including the matching funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  This translates to enough funds to buy more than 9,216,000 Polio Vaccinations”.

 

All monies collected went to the Rotary Foundation/End Polio Now program.