Club fundraises for polio vaccinations

Juniors Jack Montgomery (left) and Ben Malenka sell baked goods as part of Interact’s “End Polio Now” week.

The community service club Interact, short for International Action, is holding “End Polio Now” week this week, from Monday, March 15 to Friday, March 19.

The week is part of Interact’s annual international project. This year, the club is selling baked goods to fundraise for polio vaccines in Third World countries.

The club is hosting bake sales after school throughout the week. According to Interact Events Coordinator junior Ben Malenka, the money from the bake sale will go toward Interact’s charter organization Rotary. Funds collected from Rotary and Interact charters around the country will then be used to eradicate polio in the four countries in which it remains: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“There’s very few cases in each country,” Interact President junior Jack Montgomery said. “But the idea is it’s really small now, but it’s a very contagious disease that can spread easily back to America and the rest of the world. So we’re trying to stomp it now, because once it’s gone it’s gone.”

If polio eradication vaccines succeed, polio will be the second disease eliminated from the world, the first being smallpox.

To raise awareness about polio, Interact is playing videos throughout the week during the daily video announcements.

Polio attacks the nervous system and often paralyzes its victims. The video campaign emphasizes the difficulty of daily tasks such as walking, biking or picking up a dropped pencil for the afflicted.

Interact members said they have already seen some success with fundraising.

“We’ve raised a ton of money today, and we’ve been here for only a period,” Jack said yesterday Monday, March 16, the first day of the fundraiser.