KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Helaine Campbell, district governor of Rotary International District 5130, visited the four Rotary chapters in Lake County this week.

Her goal, reported C. Richard Smith, Kelseyville Rotary public image coordinator, was to “help support Rotary chapters in achieving their goals.”

She was accompanied on her visit by her husband, Bruce Campbell, and Assistant District Governor for Lake County Ruth Darling.

Rotary District 5130 covers the six western California counties from the Oregon border to Sonoma and Napa.

Lake County Rotary clubs are located in Clearlake, Lakeport, Kelseyville and Middletown.

Campbell expressed her goals for the county Rotary clubs as, “encouraging members to work together to complete local and international projects.”

She also asked local members to “become more engaged beyond your local club.”

“Don’t make anyone wait to become a member,” Campbell said, urging members to actively recruit others in the community.

As an example of how a single Rotarian can promote positive change, Campbell recounted the inspiring story of Dr. Benny Santos and the eradication of polio in the Philippines.

In 1978 more than 60,000 children in the Philippines suffered from the ravages of polio.

In response to a Rotary International program to promote worldwide health, Filipino Rotarian Dr. Santos pledged that if the Rotary would supply the polio vaccine the local Rotary chapters would immunize all of the children.

Millions of Filipino children were immunized using Rotary supplied vaccine and polio was eradicated in that country.

This spurred Rotary International, in 1988, to create a program, PolioPlus, to eradicate polio around the globe.

Today, in a worldwide program supported by Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Center for Disease Control, polio has been eradicated in every country in the world except Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Campbell used this story to inspire local Rotarians to look for opportunities to contribute in their own communities.

Local Rotary clubs support community programs related to education, welfare, health, nutrition, the environment, and many other causes.

For more information on Rotary activities and how to make contact with your local Rotary club, go to the District Web site at www.rotary5130.org or contact a local Rotary club member.