NEWS RELEASE (Event open to Non-Rotarians)
Rotary International's four Texarkana Rotary Clubs are hosting a Rotary Foundation Dinner on Saturday, February 23, 2019 from 5:00 until 8:00 in the evening at the Northridge Country Club to benefit the eradication of polio worldwide. Deadline to register is February 18, 2019.      
The 2019 Foundation Dinner is open to Non-Rotarians and Rotarians.  PDG Ann Lee Hussey is our Keynote Speaker and she is traveling from South Berwick, Maine to share an important message about the Eradication of Polio.  We want to make sure her message is shared with our community. This is a great time to invite those individual that want to see first hand what Rotary does Internationally and in our Communities. 
 
The theme will be Mardi Gras and we are going to have a blast! You can wear your favorite Mardi Gras Beads and/or Mardi Gras Mask! There will be 2 cash bars plus hors d'ouvres and your choice of entrée. We have also blocked some rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn at a reduced rate. 
 
Ann Lee has made the eradication of polio and the alleviation of suffering by polio survivors her life's work.  Over the past several years she has actively participated in 28 volunteer National Immunization Day teams, organizing and leading the last 24 teams herself, choosing to take those NIDs to places that do not often see Westerners  -  Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Niger, Nigeria, Madagascar as well as less “touristy” destinations in Egypt and India – where the need is greatest and where the publicity and goodwill surrounding the trip are as critical as the immunizations themselves to help communicate the need for eradication.  She is leading a team to Nigeria in October for her 29th NID.
 
She has shared her story and passion hundreds of times throughout the Rotary world and beyond, raising money and creating new converts to the fight.  She is determined that no child will needlessly have to suffer what she herself has been through. As a polio survivor herself, the story Ann Lee tells is personal, and so is her fight to eradicate polio.
 
Please join us on February 23, 2019 for dinner.  The cost is $50 with your choice of entree  -  Chicken Piccata or Beef Filet. 
Non Rotarians may register by Feb.18th with a credit card by calling Shirley Pinnix-Evans at: 903-787-8275
Rotarians please register by Feb. 18th at the District Website, Rotary5830.org.
 
There will also be an Iron Lung at the event for those who are too young to remember what it was like for those who were infected with this disease.