AROUND THE WORLD:
Flight to End Polio
Eastbound May 5, 2023
In partnership with
Please consider a contribution to help end polio forever. We can't do it without you. Donation levels for our flight are:
-
Wingman:
$5,000 or greater
-
Commander: $750 - $4,999
-
Captain: $301 - $749
-
Co-Pilot: $300 or lower
Click here to visit our donation page and remember, for each dollar you contribute, the Gates Foundation will match your donation 2:1.
The primary focus of this flight is to bring 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.
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.
When flying over water, we will take the safety precautions of wearing immersion suits and packing a four man 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.
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.
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.
Check back for updates on our flight before departure and during the flight!
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS!
WINGMEN:
Henrique Gomes de Almeida
John Luckstead
Andy & Kathy Ockenfels
John & Deb Ockenfels
Rotary Club Lisbon International, Portugal
Herb & Janice Wilson
COMMANDERS:
Helen Arnold
Armando Barreira
Bob Bassett
John Buchanan
Willis Bywater
Roberto Carvalho
Maria Isabel da Costa Andrade Lopes
Steve Dakin
Dennis Drager
Fernando Duarte
Bruce Dunbar
Luis Firmino Freitas Picoito
Catherine Hivet
Meredith Karns
Bruno Gonçalo de Azevedo Lage
Manuel António Guedes
Ilda Maria Leite Braz
Meardon, Sueppel & Downer, PLC
Erna Morain
Dana Nichols
Kris Ockenfels
Charles Rohde
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
Rotary District 1960, Portugal
Community Foundation for Pete Wallace
Gary Wicklund
LaDonna Wicklund
CAPTAINS:
Al Bonney
John Bryant
David Bullamore
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Donald Flannery
Cheryl Holt
Interact Club Tavira, Portugal
Larry Iversen
Jet Air, Inc.
Anthony Joseph
Kimberly and Larry Kudej
James Lane
Naomi A. Law
Jorge Lucas Coelho
Abílio José Matias Lopes
Russell V. Michaletz
Scott and Penny Olson
Norman Rahe
Barbara Randall
Ann Romanowski
Rotary Club Barreiro, Portugal
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
Sunrise Rotary Club St. Augustine, Florida
Sunrise Rotary Club West Bend, Wisconsin
Donald & Wilma Sanders
Audrey Savage
Hazel Seaba
Norm Van Klopenburg
Dean Wuebker
Joe Zachar, Jr.
Brian Adamec
Rema Afifi
S. Anderson
Filipa Andrade
Jacquelynn Andrew
José Pedro Antunes Salgado
Jorge Azevedo
Alda Barata Salgueiro
Amílcar Barata Salgueiro
Daniel Bauer
Daniel J. Beadle
Rose Mary Beadle
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
Mark Dimke
Deb Dunkhase
Dimas Ferreira Pestana
Deb Galbraith
Clemente Galvão
RuthSuzanne Gibson
Richard Goldschmidt
Charles B. Green
Arnie Haider
Nicole Harmer
Reinier Hesselink
Dorothy Hinman
Rui Horta Carneiro
Benjamin S. Horton
Douglas J. Horton
Dwight Hughes
Julie Johnson
Nan Johnson
Kevin Kacere
Pam Kalkhoff
Steve Keifer
Dennis Keitel
John B. Kennedy
James Klein
Chris Knapp
Vernette Knapp
Ken Kolek
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
Tara Minetos
Roxanne Mitchell
Augusto Mourão Ezequiel
António Muchaxo
Tom Narak
Christa Nelson
Liz Nichols
Amy Nicholson
Kenneth R. Noble
Alice Nobre
James E. Olson
Veronique Ortoli
Nancy Pacha
Rebecca Patterson
Mark S. Patton
Douglas Peterson
Philip Peterson
David Poorvu
Maria Isabel Prazeres Pinto Nascimento Pereira
Steven Quigley
Dick Rasmussen
Sue Rasmussen
Miguel Marco Real Mendes
Lance Renfroe
Shawn Rhinehart
Roy E. Robertson
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
Bonnie Rubin
Diogo Santos
Vilia Sauerberg
Joel Schmidt
John Schneider
Judy Schneiderman
Thomas & Joanne Schoenaker
Amy Schwartz
David Shragal
Fernando Simões Henriques
Mark Stanley
Louis Stepanek
Sharon Stepanek
Nancy Steyers
Camilla M. Streuter
VL Struzynski Olson
Julie Summa
Rui Tenório
Matthew Teply
Elizabeth Teruszkin
Barb Thomas
John Thompson
Bill Tobin
Sherie Tobin
Amanda Ueltschy
Rui Vidal Matoso
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:
THANK YOU TO OUR
CORPORATE SPONSORS!
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. We will be compiling these stories to bring along on our flight as a reminder of why we are taking on this endeavor. Until polio is gone forever, a resurgence is only one flight away.
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.
Click here to read Lisa's personal story. Thank you for sharing with us, Lisa.
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.
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!
Don't see your name listed? Please email us at flighttoendpolio@gmail.com.