After members of the North Allegheny Interact Club heard the story of a Rotary member raising awareness for polio eradication, they were inspired to do the same. 

On Thursday, May 13, members of the NA Interact Club participated in the Hike to Eradicate Polio. From 3:00-4:00, participants hiked the White Boundary Trail around the campus of NAI, McKnight, and Carson.

NA Interact is the high school branch of the Rotary Club. The club’s goals are to participate in community service, make service fun for young people, inspire lifelong service, take action, build international understanding, and live by the Rotary motto of “service above self.”

NA Interact Club officer Hannah Shin, a NASH junior, has enjoyed her time in Interact so far.

“I fell in love with Interact’s commitment to the mission of ‘service above self,’ sowing seeds of integrity and creating avenues for us to wholeheartedly contribute to our community,” Shin remarked. “It encapsulates a perfect balance between local impact and international understanding.”

Mrs. Lombardi, one of the sponsors of the club, remarked that she was looking forward to the event.

“Mrs. Steele and I had a blast when we did a ‘practice hike’ a few weeks ago,” she said before the May 13th event. “We think it will be a lot of fun!”

Readers may be wondering — why polio? Despite its eradication in the United States in the late ’70s following the development of its vaccine in the ’50s, there are still two parts of the world where polio exists, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The idea for NA’s Hike to Eradicate Polio came from the District Interact Conference, where local Rotarian Owen P. Stanley told the story of his efforts to bring awareness to polio eradication.

This spring, Stanley set off to hike the Appalachian Trail in 100 days, hoping to raise $100,000 for polio eradication. Though he didn’t hike the entire trail or reach his goal amount, he brought awareness to polio and inspired people everywhere he went. Stanley’s website, Owen’s Odyssey, is still collecting donations.

Since the Interact Club is an international organization, clubs are asked to support at least two projects every year. One should help their school/community, while the other should promote international understanding. NA Interact selected the Hike to Eradicate Polio as their international project this year. 

After hearing Stanley’s story, the NA Interact officers began brainstorming ideas for the hike. Mrs. Steele and Mrs. Lombardi, the NA Interact co-sponsors, planned the specifics for the hike: which trail to take, revisions needed for mud and fallen trees, a scavenger hunt that participants could do, snacks, prizes, and more. The two intended to make the service opportunity enjoyable for students, which is one of their main goals of the club. All the money collected through the hike will go towards polio eradication around the world.

“I’d love to make the hike a yearly tradition, but if it isn’t fun for the students, then we aren’t achieving one of our main goals, which is to make service enjoyable,” Lombardi said.

NA Interact sees this hike as a way to spread awareness of the fact that polio still exists internationally today. Additionally, it is important to continue to try to eradicate polio so that it doesn’t grow more problematic. According to the Rotary website, it is crucial to continue working to keep countries polio-free. If eradication efforts stop, within ten years, the disease could paralyze around 200,000 children each year.

According to Shin, the hike was a success, since it allowed participants to hang out with friends, enjoy the beautiful weather, and raise donations for polio eradication.

“My favorite part of the hike was a fun scavenger hunt that kept participants engaged throughout our event,” he said. “Everyone was encouraged to find interesting objects on the trail, take selfies with each other, and get a picture with our guest, Owen Stanley.”

The Interact Club hopes that by raising awareness and donations, the world can be closer to eradicating polio worldwide.

“If we each can give $5 and spend one hour of our time to hike together, then maybe we are one step closer to allowing children all over the world to live a better life,” Lombardi said.