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Please consider a contribution to help end polio forever. We can't do it without you. Donation recognition levels are:

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  • Wingman:  
    $5,0
    00 or greater

     

  • Commander:  $750 - $4,999
     

  • Captain:  $301 - $749
     

  • Co-Pilot:  $300 or lower

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Visit our donation page and remember, for each dollar you contribute, the Gates Foundation will match your donation 2:1. 

 

The primary focus of our flight was bringing awareness to the suffering caused by the highly infectious polio virus and to raise funds to help eradicate polio around the world. We are grateful for the efforts and leadership provided by the Rotary Foundation and the 2:1 match by The Bill Gates Foundation.

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We ask you to donate NOW to the Rotary Foundation and help us end polio.  Your donation, regardless of size, can make all the difference in the world. With the generous pledge by The Bill Gates Foundation your donation will be increased $2.00 for every $1.00 you donate.

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When flying over water, we took extra safety precautions by wearing immersion suits and packed a raft with emergency supplies, satellite phones and personal tracking devices.

We are mindful that this trip is something experienced by very few in the history of flight.  This will not be an easy mission. We are dependent on only one engine for the duration of the trip over some of the most rugged terrain in the world. Some of the longest flight legs are ten hours long! One of the longest legs is entirely over the North Atlantic - St. John, Newfoundland to Santa Maria Azores, Portugal.

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We invite you to follow our flight live (with a five minute delay) on our website and watch our flight videos that we will post throughout the flight.

All of our flight plans are subject to the function of the plane, weather, and political unrest.
We will have handlers to help us throughout our flight - people to meet us at airports, help us procure fuel, and assist in translation. At each stop, we plan to meet with other Rotarians as well as locals to spread the word about ending polio forever.

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We will do everything we can to spread the message about 
eradicating polio. Please join us
in our flight by donating NOW to the Rotary Foundation.  Show your support and join the Flight to End Polio.

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Check back for updates on our flight before departure and during the flight! 

Photo Credit: The Gazette

Photo Credit: The Gazette

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS!

WINGMEN:

Henrique Gomes de Almeida

Armando Jorge Martins Barreira

Ilda Maria Pereira Leite Braz

Maria Isabel da Costa Andrade Lopes

John Luckstead

Andy & Kathy Ockenfels

John & Deb Ockenfels

Rotary Club Lisbon International, Portugal

Rotary District 1960, Portugal

Scotland North Rotary District 1010

Herb & Janice Wilson

 

COMMANDERS:

Jacquelynn Andrew

Helen Arnold

Rob & Ann Bassett

Charlie Becker

Breda Airport, Netherlands

John Buchanan

Willis Bywater

Roberto Carvalho

Maria Isabel da Costa

Andrade Lopes

Steve Dakin

Dennis Drager

Fernando Duarte​

Bruce Dunbar

Clifford Elling

Luis Firmino Freitas Picoito

Gen Two Group

Michael and Mary Harleman

Catherine Hivet

Meredith Karns

Bruno Gonçalo de Azevedo Lage

Jim and Catherine Lane

Manuel António Guedes

Ilda Maria Leite Braz

Meardon, Sueppel & Downer, PLC

Luke Moffitt

Erna Morain 

Dana Nichols

Amy Nicholson

Kris Ockenfels

Tim and Lisa Ockenfels

Dennis Oliver

David Parsons

Charles Rohde

Robert Rose

Maria Isabel Rosmaninho

Rotary Club Almeirim, Portugal

Mark Ruggeberg and

Bob Brooks

Sunrise Rotary Club, Galesburg, Illinois

João Taveira e Gouvêa

Martine Tournade de la Fontaine

Rotaract Club Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Rotary Club Abrantes, Portugal

Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) West

Rotary Club Estoi Palace International, Portugal

Rotary Club Loulé, Portugal

Rotary Club Silves, Portugal

Rotary Club Torres Vedras, Portugal

Spencer Rotary Club, Spencer, Iowa

VFW Post 3159, Spencer, Iowa

Peter Wallace

Gary Wicklund

LaDonna Wicklund

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CAPTAINS:

Judi and Jeff Barta

Al Bonney

Will Brown

John Bryant

David Bullamore

Byron Callies

David & Lijun Chadima

Patrick Courtney

Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines

Cross River Bank

Donald Flannery

Terrie Frieden

Cheryl Holt

Interact Club Tavira, Portugal

Larry Iversen

Jet Air, Inc.

Anthony Joseph

Kimberly and Larry Kudej

Sharon Laird

Naomi A. Law

Jorge Lucas Coelho

Abílio José Matias Lopes

Mike McFarlane, Australia

Russell V. Michaletz

Christopher Nelson

Scott and Penny Olson

Norman Rahe

Barbara Randall

Jon Roder

Ann Romanowski

Rotary Club Barreiro, Portugal

Rotary Club of Cairns, Australia

Rotary Club Cascais-Estoril, Portugal

Rotary Club of East Bremerton, Washington

Rotary Club Faro, Portugal

Rotary Club Lisboa Benfica, Portugal

Rotary Club Lisboa Estrela, Portugal

Rotary Club Newton, Iowa

Rotary Club Oeiras, Portugal

Rotary Club Parede Carcavelos, Portugal

Rotary Club Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Rotary Club São Miguel Internacional, Portugal

Rotary Club of Shanklin, England

Sunrise Rotary Club St. Augustine, Florida

Sunrise Rotary Club West Bend, Wisconsin

Donald & Wilma Sanders

Audrey Savage

Hazel Seaba

Dr. Germano de Sousa

Jennifer Strong

Brian Talyat

Chitra Venkatraman

Norm Van Klopenburg

Dean Wuebker

Joe Zachar, Jr.

Brian Adamec

Rema Afifi

S. Anderson

Filipa Andrade

José Pedro Antunes Salgado

Jorge Azevedo

Alda Barata Salgueiro

Amílcar Barata Salgueiro

Ricky Bartlett

Daniel Bauer

Daniel J. Beadle

Rose Mary Beadle

James Beeghly

Elizabeth Belding

Linda Bolton

Laurie Brandenburg

José António C. Brito Bonfim

Marcia Bullis

Mary Burback

Teresa Burns

Paul Cameron Jr.

Jeff and Amber Capps

Lisa Cash Wiese

Pedro Colaço

Jeanne Conlon

Casey Cook

Julie L. Coppock

Vitor Cordeiro

José Carlos da Costa Álvares Rosmaninho

Bernard & Cherie Cremers

Douglass Deardorff

Carol Dietz

Mark Dimke

Deb Dunkhase

Pam Ehly

Dimas Ferreira Pestana

Deb Galbraith

Clemente Galvão

Joan Garrity

RuthSuzanne Gibson

Richard Goldschmidt

Douglas Grabinski

Charles B. Green

Arnie Haider

Nicole Harmer

Jeff Hassman

Robert Heims

John Henderson

Geoffrey Hendren

Rick Hergert 

Reinier Hesselink

Dorothy Hinman

Jane Hitsman

Rui Horta Carneiro

Benjamin S. Horton

Douglas J. Horton

Dwight Hughes

Richard Job

Julie Johnson

Nan Johnson

Kevin Kacere

Pam Kalkhoff

Steve Keifer

Dennis Keitel

John B. Kennedy

James Klein

Chris Knapp

Vernette Knapp

Knights of Columbus 5544

Ken Kolek

Barbara Kula

Patti Kunz

Brenda & Wes LaMarche

Steven & Karen Laughlin

Donald LeBlanc

Bruce Lindholm

Elizabeth Loeb

Gabriel Magalhães

Alda Maria Medeiros Sousa

Alberto Maia e Costa

Pamela Malloy

LeRoy Mann

Luís Manuel Araújo

Aaron Marshall

Paulo Alexandre Matos Macedo Martins

Nicole Maul

Roxane McCrane

Amanda McFadden

Larry McGee

Leonor Mendes

Donald & Kristine Meyer

Judy Meyer

Joel Miller

Thomas Miller

Tara Minetos

Roxanne Mitchell

Augusto Mourão Ezequiel

António Muchaxo

Mark Murphy

Nance Naeve

Tom Narak

Christa Nelson

Liz Nichols

Kenneth R. Noble

Alice Nobre

James E. Olson

Veronique Ortoli

Nancy Pacha

Rebecca Patterson

Thomas Patterson

Mark S. Patton

Douglas Peterson

Philip Peterson

David Plond

David Poorvu

Maria Isabel Prazeres Pinto Nascimento Pereira

Tim Puliz

Steven Quigley

Dick Rasmussen

Sue Rasmussen

Miguel Marco Real Mendes

Lance Renfroe

Donna Renon

Shawn Rhinehart

Roy E. Robertson

Bob Rogers

Nuno Roque

Rotary Club Albufeira, Portugal

Rotary Club Almada, Portugal

Rotary Club Almancil International, Portugal

Rotary Club Almeirim, Portugal

Rotary Club Benedita, Portugal

Rotary Club Castelo Branco, Portugal

Rotary Club El Dorado Hills, California

​Rotary Club de Fátima, Portugal

Rotary Club de Lagos, Portugal

Rotary Club Lisboa Belém, Portugal

Rotary Club Lisboa Olivais, Portugal

Rotary Club Lisboa Parque das Nações, Portugal

Rotary Club Moita, Portugal

Rotary Club Monticello, Iowa

Rotary Club Odivelas, Portugal

Rotary Club Peniche, Portugal

Rotary Club Portela, Portugal

Rotary Club Santarém, Portugal

Rotary Club de Sintra, Portugal

Bonnie Rubin

Diogo Santos

Vilia Sauerberg

Joel Schmidt

John Schneider

Judy Schneiderman

Thomas & Joanne Schoenaker

Amy Schwartz

David Shragal

Fernando Simões Henriques

Mark Stanley

Elliott Steen

Louis Stepanek

Sharon Stepanek

Nancy Steyers

Camilla M. Streuter

VL Storjohann

VL Struzynski Olson

Julie Summa

Susan Teahen

Rui Tenório

Matthew Teply

Elizabeth Teruszkin

Barb Thomas

John Thompson

Bill Tobin

Sherie Tobin

Amanda Ueltschy

Rui Vidal Matoso

Catrina Van Genderen

Ana Vieira

Gary Wagner

Carolyn Wanat

Eric Weiler

Jeanne L. West

Stephen West

Stanley White

Wiese Construction

Keith Williams

Herbert Wilson​

Margaret Winkler

Connie Wisnousky

Laurel Worden

CO-PILOTS: 

Don't see your name listed? Please email us at flighttoendpolio@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO OUR 
CORPORATE SPONSORS!

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Thanks to the vaccine, polio has been eliminated in the U.S. for over 30 years. But the debilitating effects of polio still impact so many individuals and families.

Will you share with us how polio has affected your life? Please email us at flighttoendpolio@gmail.com with your story. You may provide us with your story anonymously or feel free to include names, photos and contact information. This information will only be shared with the pilots, John and Peter.

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Click here to read Lisa's personal story. Thank you for sharing with us, Lisa.

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Bill Bywater of the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club tells us his memory of the impact of polio on the community of Iowa City, Iowa during the 1940s - click the play button to listen. Thanks for this information, Bill.

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In the video below, Robert and AnnMarie Ketron share their story and discuss how Robert's brother's polio diagnosis impacted their family. Thank you for this, Robert and AnnMarie!

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Thank you to Dr. Sandeep Munjal, Orthopedic Surgeon from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here, Dr. Munjal shares his story of visiting a polio camp in India in the 1970's while he was in medical school. The impact of that visit inspired Dr. Munjal to enter the field of orthopedics.

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Ending Polio is Only a Flight Away!

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