Rotary District 7690’s Gov. Wes Patterson urged Rotarians at both the Mount Airy Rotary Club and the Surry Sunrise Rotary Club to do more to help with the eradication of polio during presentations for the groups this week.

“President Ray Klinginsmith wants each club this year to be bigger, better and bolder. For your club, it might be a little different, because you are already bigger, better and bolder. I see these medallions on your flag — Gold Club, that means something,” said Patterson during his speech at the Mount Airy Rotary Club on Tuesday.

He said each district is now working on their polio drives. He said Rotary has a $200 million challenge from Bill Gates, in which the clubs have three years to raise the money. He said as of Tuesday morning, that amount was raised to $300 million to match Gates’ $355 million. He said Rotary has raised $143 million in the first year.

“I set a goal of $350,000 for District 7690. We have already raised $232,000. I have promises of $408,000 already. We are used to doing things bigger, better and bolder. Polio is my passion and the eradication of it,” Patterson said.

He said he uses the acronym PAIN to spell out the countries in which Polio is most prevalent — Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.

“Last year, we had over 500 total cases. This year we have 72 in those four countries,” said Patterson.

He said Nigeria is the best example of success. There were 370 cases last year at this time. There are seven this year. In the northern two provinces of India, there were 300 cases last year. There are zero cases this year.

He said the way that was accomplished was through immunization days. He said 202,000 people were inoculated and 137 million children were immunized.

“Look around the room, you are looking at lifesavers, each and every one of you. Half of the people that contract polio die before they are a year old. Another 25 percent die before they are 10. So in this room, how many lifesavers are you looking at across from you,” asked Patterson.

He said Rotary members are like agents of the CIA because they hide everything they do and don’t tell anybody.

“We should tell people, because a lot of people would like to join us ... if they just knew what we do. For instance, there is a Rotarian that invented a prothesis made out of an inch and a half PVC pipe, a rubber tire and a coupling. As the kid grows they can extend the pipe. There’s 266,000 children in Asia that use this prothesis. It costs $20 so it’s affordable,” said Patterson.

He said Rotary provided 250,000 wheelchairs in South America that nobody knows about. The organization also provided 500,000 mosquito nets to help with Malaria.

Sandy Hurley, general manager at The Mount Airy News, said she found Patterson’s speech inspiring.

“As a new Rotarian, I found his speech to be every informative. I knew that Rotary does so many good things, but to hear how many lives are being saved through their work is truly inspirational,” said Hurley.

Betty Ann Collins, president of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, said she also enjoyed hearing Patterson’s speech.

“I thought it was a wonderful presentation. Rotary is always looking for different avenues to help people, not only here, but worldwide. That is an awesome group of people,” Collins said.