Narooma Rotarians will host the Narooma premiere of the film Ride like a Girl at the Kinema this Thursday, October 24.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The film is to support World Polio Day, to raise awareness and funds to help eliminate the paralyzing disease.
"It's a wonderful film about Michelle Payne, the first woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, so come dressed for the races," Narooma Rotary president Ange Ulrichsen said.
"We'll have prizes for fashions on the field."
On World Polio Day, Narooma joins thousands of Rotary Clubs around the world who are also holding events to continue the global fight to end polio.
"Polio is a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today," Ms Ulrichsen said.
"When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative more than 30 years ago, polio paralyzed 1,000 children every day.
"Since then, thanks to this initiative, the number of cases has dropped by 99.9 percent. That is from 350,000 in 1988 in 125 countries, to 33 cases of wild poliovirus in 2018 in just two countries Afghanistan and Pakistan."
With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners are trying to sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine.
Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that with $2 for every $1 raised, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.
