Recognizing this fact, Saratogans are taking the initiative through the Rotary Club of Saratoga, which has begun an earnest effort to eradicate polio as part of Rotary International's renewed Polio Eradication Fundraising Campaign.

The goals are steep but rewards sweet—a possible eradication of the disease worldwide for the first time since smallpox was officially eradicated in 1980. Only a handful of countries still have polio cases, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ghana.

Rotary International has a long history in fighting the disease, beginning in 1979 with vaccinations in the Philippines. In 1985, Rotary International committed to fighting polio on a worldwide scale, and, most recently, committed to raising $275 million by 2005, with a goal of $80 million by June 2003.

The Rotary Club of Saratoga has taken on $18,000 of that June goal, assigning a nine-person committee to get the word out and checks flying.

The campaign, which kicked off on Valentine's Day, is off to a great start, says Lillian Barnum, committee chairwoman.

"I am confident that we are going to reach our goal," she says, pointing out that the Saratoga Rotary has already received several thousand dollars in donations. "This is a very giving group of people who are interested in helping others. I don't think I've ever belonged to a group that is more willing to give. They are just a cohesive, giving and loving group."

Chapter President Tom Stoiber says Saratoga Rotarians have been very involved in the pledge drive. "It is a very large program for us, the biggest program that Rotary International is working on," he says. "It is a tragic disease that we should consider a high honor to fight. We have a very generous club, and I think we will meet our goal." Stoiber hopes that the community will not only pledge but also "appreciate the significance of the cause."

Although the frightening effects of polio are still a source of anguish in several Third World countries, the numbers are being dramatically lowered each year, providing motivation for Rotary to close the funding gap and permanently end polio.

"We have already spent $500 million on polio eradication and are almost there," Barnum says. "We have the opportunity to snatch victory. Why stop now?" If they do, he says, "the previous money was for nothing."

To raise the money, the committee has asked all Saratoga members to pledge a minimum of $180, with the option of donating over a period of three years. If members give $300 or more, they receive a gold pin designed with two golden droplets on it, representing the modern vaccine that uses two drops of liquid on the tongue to prevent all three types of polio.

Community involvement will take part with help from the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and nearby schools.

Collection canisters will be set up in downtown businesses as well as at Saratoga and Prospect high schools.

"I think it is great to get the kids involved; it's just fantastic," says committee member Joan Pisani, who is also working with committee members to get a "pennies for polio" program set up in the Saratoga elementary schools.

Barnum thinks it is important for students to participate in the drive, as many youths are not aware of polio's threat in the 1940s and '50s, when children were often forbidden from public swimming and daunting images of the iron lung were prevalent.

"It was a horrific disease at the time," Stoiber agrees, recalling his own childhood memories.

Despite a June deadline for raising money, Saratoga Rotary's goal is to collect the majority of its contributions by May 15, when members will participate in a district assembly and announce the chapter's total contributions for the campaign.

In addition to contributing to the canisters throughout town, non-Rotarians can send donations of any amount to Rotary of Saratoga, Polio Campaign Fund, P.O. Box 96, Saratoga, 95071.