Rotary Club Honors Senator Collins with 2019 Polio Eradication Champion Award

Click HERE for a high-resolution photo of Senator Collins receiving the award from Brenda Cressey, president and CEO of Office Support Systems in Biddeford and Rotary Club Chair and Trustee, and Mike McGovern, a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth

Click HERE for a high-resolution photo of Senator Collins at the reception

Click HERE for a high-resolution photo of Mike McGovern introducing Senator Collins

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins delivered remarks and was awarded the 2019 Polio Eradication Champion Award at the Rotary International’s Congressional Reception.  Mike McGovern, a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth, presented the award to Senator Collins.  The reception was attended by several past congressional honorees.

“I am deeply grateful for this recognition and honored to be among Rotary International’s Polio Eradication Champions, past and present,” said Senator Collins.  “As a past member of the Bangor Rotary Club, and now as an honorary Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow, I am so proud of this outstanding organization’s leadership in this great cause.  ‘Service Above Self’ is more than the motto of Rotary International – it is a way of life.”

“The dream of a world free of polio is close to becoming reality, and we must not lose steam,” Senator Collins continued.  “As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I lead annual efforts to provide robust funding for USAID’s immunization efforts; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; as well as the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.”

In 1985, the Rotary Club launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children.  Since then, more than two billion children have been immunized, 10 million have been spared disability, and more than 250,000 deaths have been averted.