In 2001, trains became part of the solution, with all children aboard Indian trains being immunised.

Article by Mark Anderson, Senior Coordinator | Fund Development, Rotary Foundation

It used to be that trains were part of the polio problem, as they gave the poliovirus the perfect way to rapidly spread far and wide. Then, in 2001, trains became part of the solution, with all children aboard Indian trains being immunised. Now, Pakistan has adopted the same strategy, helping to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated.

Over the past three years, there has been an All Stations challenge in the Sydney Metro area, along with several other cities in Australia and New Zealand, to raise money for the Rotary END POLIO NOW Campaign. These events have raised over $450,000 — and that’s before the Gates 2:1 match.

Due to lockdowns, last year’s event was postponed to 23 February 2022, which is Rotary’s Birthday. Alas, due to Covid, we still can’t conduct an in-person event so we have pivoted to a Virtual Train Ride.

Call to Action

1. Commit your Club to donating $1,890 — that’s $10 per station on the Sydney Trains network and send club contributions to TRF in your normal way during February. (Here are the Bank Instructions for your guidance.)
2. Go to a railway station and take a selfie under the station sign and send it to risppo.trf@rotary.org. We will have a large map at PARRAMATTA SQUARE (TBC) on which we will put a sticker with the Club amount on the station map.
3. Encourage your members and others to support the campaign — they can simply scan the above QR code, or go to raise.rotary.org/EndPolioVirtualTrainRide/challenge21. This page gives them more information about the event and provides a link to make their donation — say $18.90, $189 or whatever they prefer.

By the way, we’ll be using the best selfies in a press release that we’ll be sending out straight after the event and we can put the selfies on the Raise for Rotary event page too. We’ll also be mentioning the most generous clubs.

On the day (7:00am – 6:00pm), Mark will be at Parramatta Square with his son, Dave Anderson, who are both members of Rotary Club of Beecroft, District 9685. We will have a giant train network map, stickers, a donation terminal, and information on ending polio — another media photo op.

To facilitate personal fundraising, we’re using Rotary’s new RAISE FOR ROTARY peer-to-peer fundraising platform. If a Rotarian donates, and they use the same email address as they use to login to the Rotary website, the member and Club will receive recognition for the contribution. If a non-Rotarian donates, recognition is directed to the event.

We have set a goal of $100,000 for the day:

• Clubs $75,000
• Individuals $25,000

In 2020, 41 of the 126 Clubs in D9675 and D9685 supported the train ride. With the event now being virtual, how great would it be if every club in Greater Sydney supports the event!

Put it in your diary: WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY, Rotary’s Birthday.

Please feel free share this QR code. Donors can scan it and be taken directly to the campaign page on Raise for Rotary.

The Virtual Train Ride is an initiative of your team at RISPPO, (Rotary International South Pacific and Philippines Office).