Wear a Halloween costume, go for a walk in the park, and help eradicate polio at the same time -- in the Walk to Scare Away Polio on Oct. 31.
 
Rotary Club of Utica is hosting the Walk to Scare Away Pollo on Saturday, Oct. 31, in recognition of World Polio Day (October 24). The event takes place from 9 a.m. to noon at the F.T. Proctor Park oval and, to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions on group size, it consists of three one-hour sessions.
 
Walkers may choose which hour to participate by registering online at uticarotary.org/page/scare-awau-polio.
 
The walk is being held to raise awareness, funds, and support to end polio around the world.
Rotary also want this to be about fellowship so encourage friends and family to walk with you, and all are welcome to wear costumes!
 
Polio is "a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today,” Rotary International reports. “When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just three countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan."
 
In support of eradicating polio in the three countries, Rotary Club of Utica is encouraging walkers to walk three loops, one for each country where Polio still exists. If you can't walk all three loops (.7 miles each loop), organize a group of friends or family members to take turns.
 
Walkers can also check out what Rotary Club of Utica has accomplished through its F.T. Proctor Park service project – as the event starts and ends in front of the hydrangea beds lining the parking lot.
 
There is no fee to participate in the walk, but free-will donations are being accepted the day of the walk. If you can't make the walk, donations can be made at the Rotary Club of Utica web page set up for this event. All donations collected go to The Rotary Foundation Fund for eradicating polio. A big bonus is that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match donations 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.
 
Due to New York COVID-19 restrictions, individuals and groups MUST preregister for the walk, as Rotary is required to limit the number of registrations per hour. In addition, individuals must wear face coverings when they are in public and are within six feet of other individuals who are not family members or in the individual's group.
 
For more information and donation and registration links go to: