Buffalo Grove Rotary Joins Polio Walk At Lake Arlington

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — For Buffalo Grove Rotarian Martha Weiss, the effort to eradicate polio has a personal connection.

"I joined Rotary because my father and my uncle had polio, so I saw firsthand the effects of this disease," Weiss said in a news release from the Village of Buffalo Grove.

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Weiss and fellow members of the Rotary Club of Buffalo Grove will join four other area Rotary clubs Saturday, Oct. 24, for the World's Largest Polio Walk, an effort to raise awareness and support for polio eradication.

The local walk will run from 10 a.m. to noon at Lake Arlington, 2201 N. Windsor Drive, Arlington Heights. Community members of all ages are invited to participate or support the effort through a donation.

The event coincides with World Polio Day. Organizers expect Rotarians, families and friends across 11 states and two countries to participate in the broader effort.

Locally, Buffalo Grove will partner with the Rotary clubs of Arlington Heights, Wheeling, Palatine and River Cities.

"As long as wild poliovirus remains in two countries, everyone in the world is at risk," Weiss said. "Polio can become only the second human disease ever eradicated, after smallpox."

Rotary's End Polio Now campaign has helped reduce polio cases worldwide by more than 99.9 percent over the past 35 years. Organizers said events such as the walk help maintain momentum toward eradication.

Participants can sign up to walk or donate online. More information about Rotary's global campaign is available at EndPolio.org.

Founded in 1974, the Rotary Club of Buffalo Grove supports local projects involving hunger relief, schools, safety and park improvements, along with student exchanges and international service efforts.