Tag You On, Tag Polio Off! A sea of red welcomed Auckland commuters on Friday 23 October as hundreds of Rotarians and friends took to Auckland trains and ferries in a campaign to raise awareness about ending polio.
The Polio All Transit (PAT) event was a joint effort from both District 9910 and 9920 where Rotary club volunteers rode around the Auckland public transport network wearing red End Polio Now shirts to raise funds to eradicate polio from the world and to increase public awareness of the End Polio Now campaign.This year the event was expanded from just the train network to include the Auckland ferry network. Tony Hooks (Rotary Browns Bay)
organised the ferry event, and a team from his club started riding the ferries at 6am, supported later in the day by members from Rotary
Auckland Korean.
The Train event commenced at Britomart Station where Auckland’s Mayor Phil Goff, along with ACT leader David Seymour, and local
politicians Chris Luxon and Simeon Brown welcomed the more than 60 participants. Then it was onto the trains where Rotarians, including
several Past and Present Governors, along with several International beauty queens rode to all the Auckland train stations during the day.
Donations from clubs across the two districts reached around $32,000NZD. Thanks to all the organisers and participants for your support on the day, and we now look forward to an even bigger and better End Polio Now event in 2021.
Grant Smith (Governor-Elect)