LAHS Interactive member Lance Metcalf dyes a student’s pinky purple to indicate another child vaccinated from polio. Courtesy/Rotary 

ROTARY News:

The Rotary Club of Los Alamos would like to thank our generous community for supporting our annual Purple Pinky fundraiser last week to help eradicate polio worldwide.

We are grateful to the Los Alamos elementary schools for allowing us to set up our event and to all the students who participated by getting their pinkies dyed purple and learning about polio and the importance of this important vaccination. Thank you as well to the parents who sent their children with donations — every dollar vaccinates another child against polio.

Together, Los Alamos students raised roughly the same as last year—about $1,000—a great outcome considering the economic situation we are all in. However, we are still short of our annual goal of $5,000. Rotary’s global polio eradication effort remains the largest private health initiative in the world, and with deep cuts to U.S. humanitarian aid and growing global needs, we are asking those who can dig deep to help us finish the job. Since 1988, Rotary has helped eradicate polio from 99.9% of the world. As we near our goal, we are planning for the next mission: eradicating HPV—the leading cause of cervical cancer.

Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://www.losalamosgives.org/story/Purplepinky.

Thank you, Los Alamos, for continuing to show compassion and global leadership through your generosity.