How Rotary Became the Heart and Soul of Polio Eradication
Mar 01, 2018
"Dare To Dream" District's New Polio Documentary
How Rotary Became the Heart and Soul of Polio Eradication

[From PDG Ken Solow]

District 7620’s New Smash Hit Polio Documentary

Dare to Dream, How Rotary Became the Heart and Soul of Polio Eradication, is a documentary about how Rotary leaders decided to eradicate polio “for all the children of the world.”  Originally conceived as a short film to honor our own PDG, Dr. John Sever, the project is now a 56-minute movie telling the largely unknown and surprisingly suspenseful story of how Rotary leadership overcame several obstacles to put Rotary on the path to polio eradication.  Rotarians and non-Rotarians will be educated, motivated, and entertained by the film.  Dare to Dream recently premiered at Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Ill. to a standing ovation. 

Dare to Dream can be purchased online at daretodreamfilm.com.  Rotary clubs can go to the site and download an 18-minute excerpt of the movie for use as a club program. In this small sample from the movie, Rotarians learn about Daddy Allen and the International Society of Crippled Children, Rotary Resolution 23-34, the lessons of small pox eradication, the Declaration of Alma-Ata, and eventually the creation of Rotary’s 3H program and our first 3H polio eradiation program in the Philippines. 

Club Presidents will find detailed instructions on how to facilitate a club discussion about polio eradication and Rotary’s long-term success as a founding member of the polio eradication coalition on the website.

After viewing the first part of the movie, Rotarians are encouraged to purchase the movie to learn “the rest of the story.”  They will be surprised to learn that the public health community did not want to eradicate a single disease.  In addition, many Rotarians were passionately opposed to Rotary doing projects that were global in scale.  Fortunately for us the movie has a happy ending as the WHO declares polio eradication a world health priority in 1988, the same year our international convention in Philadelphia is called by many, “Rotary’s Finest Moment.”

The film can be purchased online for $25.  The Rotary District 7620 Project Trust Fund owns the movie and has committed to contributing all net profits from the movie to PolioPlus.  The current estimate is that $18.75 of every purchase will be contributed to the Rotary Foundation.  District 7620 Rotarians are urged to purchase the movie both to learn about our Rotary legacy and to raise money for PolioPlus.

In addition to raising money by Rotarians purchasing the movie, the film can be used for a fundraiser called, Movie Night.  By downloading the film and showing it on a widescreen TV, or by renting a theater, Rotarians can pass the hat or sell tickets to a great movie that will help the community to understand Rotary and our polio eradication success.  Specific directions for Movie Night are posted on the Dare to Dream website at daretodreamfilm.com. 

Dare to Dream was written and produced by PDG Ken Solow.  It is directed and edited by Ilana Bittner at Pixel Workshop, Inc.  The film is independently owned and funded by Rotarians, Rotary Clubs, and Rotary Districts in District 7620 and Rotary Zone 33-34.

You can follow the news about Dare to Dream on Facebook at daretodreamfilm, on Twitter at @daretodreamfilm, and on the Ready, Fire, Aim Rotary blog at kensolowrotary.com.  Ken Solow can be reached at ksolow@pinnacleadvisory.com or by phone at 410-952-9637.