Polio All Transit

Rotary World

Polio All Transit

The “sea of red” came to the Auckland Rail and Ferry network last year on crisp spring morning Friday 23 October 2020. The event Polio All Transit, an Auckland combined Districts 9920_9921 Rotary project, was a repeat of the 2019 inaugural Polio All Trains event promoting End Polio Awareness. This involved riders meeting groups of Rotarians and friends at train stations and ferries raising $37,000. This amount with support from the Bill Gates Foundation multiplier becomes 3 times that amount or $91,000 to go towards the global End Polio Now campaign.
 
 
Billed by “Mr Polio” PDG Ron Seeto to be Bigger Bolder and Better than the previous inaugural 2019 event, the 2020 version included a send off by the Mayor of Auckland Hon. Phil Goff who was at Britomart to welcome, congratulate and see off the first riders on the 812am train to Swanson. Other well known faces there in support and ride a few stops were Members of Parliarment David Seymour (whose mother is a Polio survivor), Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon and councillor Paul Young alongside Miss New Zealand beauty contestants.
Chair of the Polio All Transit event Ron hopes to see this event grow each year as community understanding of viruses has grown with the COVID 19 experience. Polio is a virus and whilst eradicated from New Zealand, remains borderless and is only a plane ride away.
 
Polio All Transit is FUN.  This event presents opportunities for fellowship and networking and raising funds with the Gates two-for-one multiplier in a project that showcases our Rotarians, clubs, friends, and family.