YMCA, Rotary Club come together to eradicate polio

The Newton Rotary Club teamed up with the Newton YMCA this year to have the Ride To End Polio take place in one of the gyms at the YMCA facility.

The Ride To End Polio event is held every year in November as part of the Rotary International initiative to end polio. November is considered the month which sees Rotary clubs around the world participating in events like this.

“Each November clubs across the world will host events in an effort to raise funds to eradicate polio,” Newton Rotary Club President Margot Voshell said.

This year for the program, it was a little different than what the local group organizes. Typically each rider would complete his or her biking on his or her own time. Tuesday’s gathering marked the inaugural event where the Rotary club partnered with the YMCA to hold the event together inside the facility.

“This year we decided that we would partner with the YMCA and set up stationary bikes,” Voshell said. “We wanted to all be together and ride today.”

Director of Operations at the YMCA and Newton Rotary Club board member Lucas Hughes added, “We are happy to do it and we are happy to continue the partnership for years to come.”

The way the donations worked was through a sponsorship. A donor would pledge to donate a certain amount of money for the 15-minute ride. According to Hughes, the Rotary Foundation will also match the money raised up to a certain amount at the end.

“It’ll be a kind of a group effort,” Hughes said. “Once we send our funding off to them, then they will match it.”

According to the Rotary International website, the organization, along with its partners, have immunized more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries and have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide.

“We hope to raise funds today so that we can contribute to Rotary International who is committed to providing vaccines to people throughout the world so that we can eradicate this horrible disease once and for all,” Voshell said.

This year the ride was held inside the Newton YMCA and was open to Rotary club members but the hope is the event can grow in the coming years and more people will become interested and will want to participate and donate to the cause.

“We wanted to test the waters this year and then definitely open it up to the community,” Voshell said.

Hughes added, “Rotarians have been after this for quite a while ... I think that as a group of Newton Rotarians, we are very passionate about doing it.”

Rotary members sat on stationary bikes situated in a circle in the middle of the small YMCA gym. The ride spurred more than just sweat as the bicyclists engaged in many conversations and shared stories among one another.

“I think it is wonderful. I am excited about the level of participation that we have ... I don’t think enough people know what Rotary has done,” Newton Rotary Club member Bev Rossow said.

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com