Rotarians hold crab feast to raise money for Polio Plus campaign

Rotarians from local clubs gathered Oct. 20 at The Surfing Crab in Lewes for an afternoon of crabs, fun and fellowship, all in the name of Polio Plus. Oct. 24 was World Polio Day, highlighting the efforts of Rotary International in the long battle to eradicate polio from around the world. Rotary is an international service organization comprising 1.2 million members in more than 33,000 clubs around the world.

In 1986, when Rotary started Polio Plus, there were more than 400,000 cases reported worldwide. In 2012, there were 223 cases reported around the world. Excellent progress has occurred; however, polio is easily spread in Third World countries, as evidenced by the Somalian outbreak of more than 190 cases this year. The fragility of the eradication process highlights the need to be diligent. Rotarians have committed to end polio, no matter how long it may take. Since 1986, more than 2 billion children around the world have been inoculated, in part due to the more than $1 billion raised by Rotarians around the world.

This Polio Plus crab feast was sponsored by the Area 41 clubs from Rotary District 7630, which includes Georgetown-Millsboro, Lewes-Rehoboth, Rehoboth Beach Sunrise, Long Neck Sunrise and Southern Sussex rotary clubs. More than $1,000 was raised for the effort.

More than 60 Rotarians and friends were treated to excellent crabs along with outstanding service provided by The Surfing Crab, all while raising money and awareness of this worthwhile cause. Donald and Dawn Vechery, the owners of The Surfing Crab, were touched by Rotary’s efforts and made a generous contribution to Polio Plus. For more information on Rotary and Polio Plus, go to www.rotary.org/endpolio.