OLD TOWN – The Old Town Rotary Club is implementing an ambitious fund-raising project called Polio’s Last Quarter Mile. The idea is to collect enough quarters to cover one mile when laid end to end, for a total of $16,000. That sum will be contributed to the Rotary International PolioPlus Program, which has as its goal the global eradication of polio.

The conclusion of the fund-raiser will take place Friday, Oct. 1, at Riverside Park in Old Town when the quarters collected will be laid end to end around the walkway for a distance of 1 mile.

Stan Peterson, president-elect of the Old Town Rotary Club, will head the campaign. Area schools, businesses, individuals and service organizations will take part in the project.

Polio, a crippling disease, was once common in the United States until the advent of the Salk polio vaccine. Cases of polio are still found in Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt.

Rotary International launched the PolioPlus Program in 1985, and in 1988 the World Health Assembly challenged the world to eradicate polio.

Since then efforts on the part of Rotary, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United States Centers for Disease Control and governments around the world had achieved a 99 percent reduction in the number of polio cases worldwide.

Jars will be placed in local businesses for collecting quarters. Schools will hold contests to see which school can collect the most quarters per student. Winners will receive books, ice cream parties and other prizes. As part of the program, the Rotary Club will educate students about polio.

To obtain more information about the project, call Stan Peterson, 827-4943, or e-mail stan@canoecity.com