By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
The Port Isabel [PI] Rotary Club is bringing back its Golf Marathon for Polio on Saturday, Oct. 26.
PI Rotary members Don Lackey and Shane Peters will play up to 36 holes of golf to raise money to aid in the battle against Polio.
This is the fourth year of the marathon taking place at the South Padre Island [SPI] Golf Club, located at 1 Golf House Rd, Laguna Vista, Texas.
Lackey, a former PI Rotary President, says he is looking forward to the marathon. He will be accompanied by Peters, who currently resides in Houston, but is traveling south to participate.
Lackey and Peters will kick off the marathon at 7:30 a.m. Lackey says they will wrap up around 2:30 p.m. with a one hour break.
They chose to hold the marathon on Saturday, Oct. 26 because it is the first Saturday after World Polio Day, on Thursday, Oct. 24.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] poliovirus is rare in the United States [U.S.] today aside from a handful of isolated incidents. This is thanks to the establishment Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1999, which saw a 99% decrease in cases, and the invention of vaccines which prevented an estimated 20 million cases of paralysis in children. However, the CDC states that poliovirus still spreads wildly in two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the CDC, as long as the disease remains in Afghanistan and Pakistan, all countries are at risk of wild poliovirus being imported.
“Polio has always been a devastating virus that’s killed many millions of people around the world,” said Lackey. “We don’t think of polio around here much anymore, but it could come back.”
Lackey’s life has personally been affected by the poliovirus. His aunt was diagnosed with polio as a young child and was impaired for the rest of her life. In addition, when Lackey was still in school, a friend of his lost his younger brother to poliovirus. Since then, it has been of the utmost importance to Lackey to do everything he can in the battle to eradicate the disease.
The Rotary holds a longstanding partnership with the Bill and Melinda Foundation where every dollar raised by the Rotary in the fight against polio is matched with two dollars from the Foundation. Therefore, funds raised in the Golf Marathon for Polio will be matched as well.
People can pledge their donation by calling Lackey at (956) 371-7065. Lackey says pledges will be collected the day after the golf marathon. People can pledge an amount for each hole of golf Lackey plays, and each one Peters plays, or they can donate a flat amount.
“Some have pledged as much as five dollars a hole,” said Lackey.
According to Lackey, of all the efforts the PI Rotary has made to raise money to eradicate poliovirus, none have been as effective as the golf marathon. Their goal is to raise over $3,000.
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