Members of the Interact club participated in the annual Paces for Polio events at Mills High School in Millbrae on Saturday, May 14. Paces for Polio is a fundraising event, where high school students from across the Bay Area congregate to raise money for 24 hours. In order to raise money for those affected by polio, participants walk laps at the school track. Paces for Polio was put together by local Rotary clubs and has taken place each spring for the past three years. Although polio has become a forgotten problem in our community, it still remains prevalent in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. In 1988, 125 countries were polio-endemic, but it has since been eradicated, thanks in part to clubs like Interact that have raised money to support its eradication.
Sophomore Elizabeth Milosky said, “[Paces for Polio] was a great experience. I went last year, and this year I brought some of my friends. The whole thing is really fun, and we are doing it all for a good cause. It’s awesome.”
Because each school has to raise a certain amount of money to attend Paces for Polio, presidents of the Tam Interact Club, Ivy Ryan and Clara Butler organized smaller fundraisers to get there. Each fundraiser was very successful and the club raised $300 total.
Nine members of the Tam High Interact Club attended the event. It started early Saturday morning, and although it began to rain, the attendees’ spirits were not crushed. Their walk-a-thon was moved to the gym, but they continued walking.
Milosky said, “When we got there, we set up our tents and then began walking. It was a great feeling to know that every lap we walked went towards saving future victims of polio. The rain did not make the event any less successful, in fact we bonded with other students even more because of the enclosed space.”
Sophomore Jessie Kim said, “It was really nice meeting students from other schools and bonding over Interact club. It was fun and we were helping people. It was definitely worth the trip.”
Throughout the year the Interact Club has raised money for people in countries such as Japan, Haiti and Zimbabwe.
Junior Ivy Ryan said, “I believe Interact club is making a different not only at Tam, but in our community because we are aiming to create awareness of students and youth of pressing problems both locally and globally because we can do something to help. We have more power than we believe we do and if we all work together it is incredible what we can achieve.”
Written by Emily Rostek. This article appeared in brief in the June 2011 issue.