Community Health & Wellness
Local rotarian Denny Wilford featured at Gates Foundation’s World Polio Day
Editor’s note: This article was submitted by members of the Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club.
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Polio struck Denny Wilford early. He was only nine months old. But from that early blow, Denny grew to walk tall and brave in his lifelong fight to eradicate polio and save countless other children from the same fate. When Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club Rotarian Wilford takes the stage as a panelist at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center’s 2023 World Polio event Tuesday, Oct. 24, he’ll bring that wealth of empathy, experience and grit.
Denny’s commitment to eradicating polio led him to start a nonprofit called “Just 2 Drops.” “Just 2 drops” because that’s all it takes of the polio vaccine to prevent one child from getting polio. Generous grants from Rotary International and the Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club have also helped fuel Denny and his team’s fight to eradicate polio in Ethiopia and Uganda. Lives are literally changed by Wilford, Rotary International, and the volunteers who provide those life changing two drops, along with safe drinking water, sanitation, medical care, and more.
Denny Wilford with a vial of polio vaccine. Contributed by Gig Harbor Midday Rotary
Attending in person or virtually are options to see Denny, Rotary International leaders, and others at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center to commemorate “World Polio Day 2023: Let’s Make Polio History.” This event will be an opportunity to celebrate progress in the fight against the disease and discuss the challenges that remain to achieve a polio-free world.
Find out more and RSVP below:
World Polio Day 2023: Let’s Make Polio History
When: Tuesday, Oct. 24
In-person: 5 to 7 p.m. at the Discovery Center at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Virtual via Zoom: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
RSVP: RSVP Now
Join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center and Rotary International for a hybrid event commemorating World Polio Day 2023: Let’s Make Polio History. This event will be an opportunity to celebrate progress in the fight against the disease and discuss the obstacles that remain to achieve a polio-free world.
Learn about what gives us hope in the pathway to eradication, how polio eradication is supporting women on the frontlines, and how the program continues to innovate and adapt to changing situations.
Engage with Ezra Teshome, a local Rotarian who has been leading vaccination campaigns in Ethiopia for over 20 years, and Tehniyat Khan from the Gates Foundation’s polio team working to end polio in Afghanistan. The conversation will be moderated by Penny Legate, former TV anchor for KIRO TV.
For nearly 35 years, Rotary International, the Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization and UNICEF have partnered in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to eradicate polio worldwide.
A young Denny Wilford wearing a leg brace. Contributed by Gig Harbor Midday Rotary