The Action 2 Impact Podcast Season 1 EP.4 DG 7890 April Beston has a world wide Challenge to End Polio

 DG 7890 April Beston has a world wide Challenge to End Polio , by you and your club joining the Polio Plus Society! Join in on the competition!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi there, everyone. I'm Gwen Jones and welcome once again to the Action to Impact podcast, that weekly podcast where every single week I introduce you to fantastic people turning their actions into impact. Well, this week, the action is a challenge. That's right. A straight up polio challenge. April Bestin is joining me. She's one of the delinquents. I've met I mentioned that group before. That's a group of, let's just say, outrageously wonderful district governors here in New England. They are shaking things up and moving things in new directions. So, of course, when April Bestin said, I have a challenge for not only the rest of my delinquents districts, but for the entire world, I said, let's get on the show and let's tell everybody. I'm not sure if you know, but we have a thing called the Polio Society, and I think everybody should be a part of it. I am. Are you? Well, that's kind of the challenge right there. April Bestin is joining me, and she's got a challenge for everyone in your club, in your district, in your zone, and around the world to join the Polio Society. It could not be a more important time to beef things up in the world of polio eradication. The challenge is on, so thank you for joining us. Welcome back to the podcast, everyone. Well, there are times where people come to me and say, I got a show for you. I have a show, Gwen. And so I always say yes, or at least nine times out of 10, I do. April Bestin, who happens to be a bestie of mine. I know her quite well. She's one of the first district governors who came over and introduced herself to me. She's the new, brand new, spit-polished, clean, brand new district governor for 7890. You may recognize her voice from when I was at assembly. She was one of what they called the De A new genre of district governors that are breaking the mold and doing a whole bunch of fun and exciting things. And April got a hold of me and said, Gwen, I have a challenge. I have a challenge not only for several districts so far, but I would like this challenge to go around the world. And it's a challenge for the polio plus society. So I was like, okay, what the hell? Let's do a podcast. So without any further ado, April is joining us. Thank you for being on the show. Technically again.

SPEAKER_01: 2:57

Yes. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00: 3:00

So technically again, but the last time you were exhausted and in a room with a whole bunch of other people and it was after assembly and it was a lot of fun and, but now you're wide awake, I assume and ready to go.

SPEAKER_01: 3:14

Yes. I have coffee. It's okay. I have coffee today. We're good to go. We're good. I'm awake. I'm awake.

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

Yes. Well, before we talk about the challenge, Madam Governor, how are you doing so far? This is being recorded like just a little over a week of the new Rotary year. How's it going so far?

SPEAKER_01: 3:32

It's going fantastic. It's still very new. And I think I came to the realization last week that I was actually governor. After all this time of leading up to it, you know, two and a half years of lead up, I don't think you realize the day is going to come when you get emails that say DG April. And I'm like, who's that? No, it's fantastic. I have the best district in the world. So I couldn't ask for more. And I'm super excited about everything that's going on. And everything is going on Rotary. So, yeah, I'm hitting the ground running.

SPEAKER_00: 4:07

And we're literally only about 10 days into it. So it does really does have a new car smell. If you think about it right now and you know, you in, in 12 months, maybe we'll ask that same question again. When do you go? I'll be

SPEAKER_02: 4:22

tired then.

SPEAKER_00: 4:23

You'll be tired. It'll be another one of those tired interviews that we do. When do you, when do you visit your first club? Tomorrow. Wow. And, and who, and who will be graced by your presence, ma'am?

SPEAKER_01: 4:36

West Hartford, West

SPEAKER_00: 4:37

Hartford, Connecticut. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 4:40

Yep. And I have another one next week too. So yeah. Is

SPEAKER_00: 4:44

that the part that you're looking forward to, to actually get to go to all the clubs and see how they work and how they're missioned?

SPEAKER_01: 4:51

Yeah, I've been visiting clubs over the years, so it's not a completely new experience, of course. But it'll be nice to be intentional about visiting every club and getting to know as many Rotarians as possible in the district. And it's exciting because I love people. I love meeting new people. I love laughing, having fun with Rotarians. So, you know, it feeds my soul, makes me happy. So I'm really excited about that.

SPEAKER_00: 5:19

Now, it's interesting because I had the pleasure of not only working with Johnny, one of your other delinquents, but Emma and Pooja is now my district governor. And all of you have used this same word. And I don't know if you realized this. And that is that you're approaching your... district governorships with intention. You just said it just now that it's like, I'm really looking forward to heading out with this intention. It's a very powerful word. So before we start talking about this wonderful challenge that you have, everybody, why do you and your fellow delinquents use that word intention so much? What does it mean?

SPEAKER_01: 6:07

What does that mean? It means that I have a plan. And I think that for me in particular, that's not to pun, I guess, not intended. That is a challenge for me because sometimes I fly by the seat of my pants. Right. So I think perhaps my delinquents have challenged me unintentionally. There it is again to be better. and to do things with intention. So maybe they've rubbed off on me. And, you know, I was very focused on picking a couple things and doing them well instead of trying to do a million things not as well, let's say. So I guess that's what intention means to me is, you know, planning and being focused on the things that truly matter to me and just, you know, doing a few things well instead of a hundred things halfway.

SPEAKER_00: 7:14

Is that something we all should kind of look at? Because you guys are in there for 12 months. I know there's this two years, you know, that this magical two years that you supposedly are supposed to dot every I and cross every T and know exactly what's going on. But those little initials in front of your name are only for 12 months. And so it's very easy to want to just throw a net out there and try and do as much as possible. So are you guys trying to look at kind of a new way of thinking about your year to do just a few things really, really well?

SPEAKER_01: 7:48

Well, that's the way I'm looking at it. But I think as a group, we're also looking at doing things together. And I think that's really important is to work together. outside of your bubble, whether it be your club working with multiple clubs or your district working with multiple districts, because there's power in numbers, right? So

SPEAKER_02: 8:09

I

SPEAKER_01: 8:10

think that's also something that we've committed to. And in that, going back to what you asked, doing a few things well and just picking those important things, which right now, you know, membership is a big one, right?

SPEAKER_02: 8:25

And

SPEAKER_01: 8:27

marketing and things like that. So picking a few really important things, the things that are really, that we need to do well right now as Rotarians in North America. So, but yeah, I think that's something we're all looking at doing.

SPEAKER_00: 8:40

Cool. Well, you did say in there, in that answer, working clubs, working with other clubs and districts, working with other districts, which as they say in the business is an excellent lead in to the why you wanted your very own show and not your own podcast. You can't have this one. I'm going to keep this one for a little while, but you wanted your own episode. And it's because you're working with other districts in this challenge. So, Madame, the floor is yours. What's this big challenge?

SPEAKER_01: 9:15

So yes, this big challenge is Polio Plus Society. So for those that don't know, the Polio Plus Society is something that districts can choose to do where members commit to give$100 a year to the Polio Plus campaign. Simple as that. And what the challenge is, is between districts who can increase the percentage of Polio Plus Society members the most by the end of the Rotary year. So simple

SPEAKER_00: 9:43

as that. So end of June, June 30th, 2026. Yes. So I am a member of the Polio Plus Society. I have to. Thank you. And what I find fascinating is that you don't even have to think about it. They just do it every year. They take my hundred bucks and they say, thank you. I'm also in every Rotarian every year, but I mean, but it kind of does both. So. and I kind of threw that out there real quick. Do you know, you know, as district governor about every Rotarian every year, is that correct? Okay. So if you don't mind, I'll, I'll, I'll tell our listeners, but your group, your club, everybody gets kudos from Rotary International for if everybody in your club gives to Rotary. polio plus so and if you do it so every Rotarian every year so in my old club our club gave$25 on everybody's birthday to polio plus making every Rotarian every year so just throwing that out there you guys so every so that gave kudos so this actually goes above and beyond that with a hundred bucks And do you know any background about the society, when it was started, anything like that?

SPEAKER_01: 11:09

I don't know when the Polio Plus Society was started, but it's still not officially tracked by Rotary International. So it's up to the districts to track it themselves, similar to the Paul Harris Society. That's newly tracked by Rotary International through reporting. So I think it's been a loosely held thing. Society by Rotary International for the past several years so it came to my attention probably three or four years ago but of course I believe it's older than that so that's a tough one I'll have to get back to you

SPEAKER_02: 11:41

on.

SPEAKER_00: 11:41

So besides getting a beautiful certificate mine's around here somewhere yeah and a beautiful pin and all that kind of stuff do you think right now it's important that we're need to spend a little time on polio plus this is the first time in a long time we had michael mcgovern on the show not too long ago saying that we've actually had an increase so is that why you're kind of getting into this again

SPEAKER_01: 12:08

i'll answer the first part of your question first i think it's more important than ever that we talk about polio right now for a couple of reasons. First, there is the phenomenon of polio fatigue where we've been at this for 40 years. So I think there are some Rotarians or people in general who are like, you know, well, we're almost there. So, you know, there's other things we need to do. Let's move on and, you know, talk about something else. But now more than ever, we need to cross the finish line and we need to finish strong because if we don't, we could in the next 10 years, see 200,000 children paralyzed a year if we stop right now. So we'd be almost back to where we were back in 1988 when we started. So we need to keep going until there's zero cases of wild polio per year. So it's more important than ever to keep going and to keep our promise to the world that we would eradicate this disease. And we've come so far, there's no reason to stop now. When it takes so little.

SPEAKER_00: 13:18

I do love it. That the Gates Foundation. Said we're still sticking with you. Because up to. Just a couple of months ago. We in Rotary weren't sure. It was not the quote unquote. Most politically. Happy stance to take. To be a pro vaccinated. Pro vaccine society. Do you think. that we should hang on and embrace that emblem of being a pro-vaccination, civil organization, giving organization around the world?

SPEAKER_01: 13:58

Yeah, absolutely. I 100% agree. I mean, personally, I am pro-vaccine. I vaccinate my own children. So that's me talking personally. But look, let's look at where we've come from. You know, we did this, so it works. We can show the numbers. There were 350,000 cases of polio every year when we started this back in the 80s. And now, what, even last year, there were 99. Right. That's less than 100. This year, there's been, I believe, 13 or, you know, a dozen or so, let's say. It works. We did that. You know, and, you know, the processes and the we have in place can be used to vaccinate against other diseases in the future. So it's not just polio. We can eradicate other diseases. We can, right now we're giving out vitamin A, which is saving lives in other parts of the world with the vaccine. So it's not just polio. So we have, it absolutely works. So yes, we should keep going and we should be a pro-vaccine or we should hold a pro-vaccine stance 100% because we can show the proof.

SPEAKER_00: 15:05

So what, so this challenge is to be, to have your club or your district. Well, they're both the same, but so we're speaking to both presidents right now and district governors and others are hearing my voice right now. So how would they join the challenge?

SPEAKER_01: 15:24

Okay. So it's really easy. They're going to email polio plus challenge at gmail.com and say, I want to be a part of this. Okay. That's it. And

SPEAKER_00: 15:35

I will get back. PolioPlusChallenge at gmail.com. So all one thing. PolioPlusChallenge at gmail. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 15:42

Yep. That's it. And they say, I want to be part of the challenge. And then they'll be part of the challenge. That's it. And it costs them nothing. And all they have to do is encourage their members to be. And that would be hopefully the district governor or PolioPlus chair would reach out for that. So far, we have 16 districts participating, so tens of thousands of

SPEAKER_00: 16:07

Rotarians out there. Are those all just in North America, or are they around the world?

SPEAKER_01: 16:14

So far, we're in North America, but I would love to see Rotarians on every continent being part of this.

SPEAKER_00: 16:22

Because we have a national polio day. We have a day of service around polio, and And it's in October. I wonder why this isn't part of that. I mean, it's funny. It's kind of like we have these two different things that are going on. We have this society. We have the Paul Harris. You can be a Rotarian. And we have a lot of stuff about the Paul Harris societies all the way up to the Klump Society, right? Big, following, cool pins, special dinners, all that kind of stuff. So now we have this society for polio plus. How come it doesn't get the same?

SPEAKER_01: 17:08

That's a really good question. I don't have an answer to, but I will say the thing I'd like about the polio plus society is it's so attainable for so many Rotarians at a hundred dollars. So that makes it attractive for me

SPEAKER_02: 17:22

because

SPEAKER_01: 17:23

there's a lot of members. Let's be honest, who just can't afford a thousand dollars a year to be part of the Paul hair society. And if we're going to expand our net to include everybody, we have to see that, you know, not everyone's wealthy and can afford a thousand dollars a year, but you know,$10 a month through Rotary Direct is something that a good portion of Rotarians in North America can afford. So, you know, it's a great way to reach out to people and make them part of something. So

SPEAKER_00: 17:52

that's what- But to get to other levels of a Paul Harris is$1,000. However, you can just be a Paul Harris fellow and technically not give again. Yes. However, this polio society is$100 a year. Is that correct? That is absolutely correct. Because I was sitting there going, damn, I'm like four years behind then on more Paul Harris,$1,000. And I'm sure- the foundation would happily let me catch up.

SPEAKER_01: 18:29

Yes. There's difference between Paul Harris fellow and Paul Harris society. Right. That is true. A little confusing, but you know, the two are separate. So

SPEAKER_00: 18:38

we just, and we just had Rebecca on if you're followers of the show, all this stuff. And I do think it's really important to have people know that, The end polio project is different from the Rotary Foundation, even though they both go under the same umbrella. So if you're giving to this, if you're part of this challenge, it's not the same as the foundation.

SPEAKER_01: 19:03

Yeah, yeah. So I, of course, encourage everybody to give to the annual fund as well.

SPEAKER_00: 19:08

Absolutely. So like, what do you want to see happen? You're, you're throwing down the challenge here. So what, what is your goal in this challenge besides, you know, this was your intention to do it this year, as we already talked about, but what, what really do you want to, what do you want to accomplish with this?

SPEAKER_01: 19:25

Yeah. Well, you know, as you know, it's hard times for global aid around the world. You know, we're seeing a lot of cuts to the world health organization, USA, things like that, things we depend on for polio eradication. And this is, now more than ever is needed. More funds for polio eradication. So I'm hoping that in our small way, these tens of thousands of Rotarians can help fill in the gap. So that's part of it. I think it was not my intention when I had this crazy idea, but it's prescient, right? So here we go. There's also the awareness, you know, reminding people as we started with reminding Rotarians, it's still important that we cross the finish line and also that we keep our promise to the world to eradicate polio and we get people jazzed about it. And there's nothing, nothing better than a little friendly competition to do that. So.

SPEAKER_00: 20:27

You brought up a couple of times that we keep our promise. Do you think that is, is that a very, rotary kind of point that we said we were going to do this. And so help us. We're going to finish.

SPEAKER_01: 20:41

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And that you'll see that in the, I'm stealing it from the literature from Empolio now.org that we keep our promise to children of the world to Empolio and not just polio. And again, we're setting up, You know, yes, polio is our immediate concern, but it's not just polio. You know, we can use what we've learned from polio eradication to continue to eradicate other diseases. You know, at the International Convention, there was a talk of curing cervical cancer through... vaccines, hepatitis vaccines. So, you know, we can use what we have in place to continue to do more good in the world and to eradicate other diseases and cancers. I mean, can you imagine being the organization that cured cancer? You know, that's what's so cool about being a Rotarian, you know? Who gets to be part of an organization that cured a disease, for goodness sakes? You know, I mean, that's what I say to people. It's like, we cured a disease. What did you do?

SPEAKER_00: 21:43

You know, picked up trash on the side of the yard. Exactly. Yes. And we gave toys to kids, you know, so it's like, arguably. So, so you did mention really quickly and I, and I know you're a busy person, so I won't keep you much longer, but you mentioned polio fatigue. Is that One of the reasons, first of all, I think it's funny that we have polio fatigue because I will use my words. That means we've become spoiled. My words, because we're not seeing it anymore. I think here in North America, and I will say here in the United States, even though somebody says, don't touch the burner, don't touch the burner. We famously only believe something is hot till after we touch a burner. Okay. So, and I think that's very much us. So when you said this fatigue, is it because we just don't see it anymore? Yes. I've got bigger things to worry about Gwen and April. I don't have time for this. I don't see crippled people on the side of the road. Is that really where we're

SPEAKER_01: 22:56

at? It really is. And I think it's ironic because I think if people talked about it, they know people who had polio. They know a lot of people who had polio. They may not be paralyzed, but they have polio. I mean, you look at, and this is not political, but when there was talk of stopping the polio vaccinations by certain political figures, Mitch McConnell came right out and was like, hey, I have polio.

UNKNOWN: 23:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 23:24

It's everywhere. We had a case in New York in 2022, you know, and we may see more if vaccinations stop in this country. And just like we've seen measles and other diseases returning that have been eradicated for decades, you know. So, yeah, I think we need to keep going and we need to be advocates, you know, and Rotary has chosen this as our biggest initiative. So it's, you know, I feel a responsibility as a Rotarian to be an advocate for the eradication of polio, obviously. And I hope that most Rotarians feel the same.

SPEAKER_00: 24:00

Do you know somebody? Is it because of the fact that you know somebody that you've taken this on? Has it been in your

SPEAKER_01: 24:06

family? So, I mean, I do know somebody. Of course, my good friend and yours, Ramesh Ferris, is a polio survivor and fellow district governor. And he, of course, is an inspiration to me every day.

SPEAKER_00: 24:19

Somebody who actually does crawl around to show you what a crippled person crawling around looks like. Yes, he does. Yes. He was kind

SPEAKER_01: 24:26

enough to come all the way from the Yukon to my installation in Massachusetts. So, and did his wonderful presentation where he, you know, shows us what polio can do. I won't ruin it because I know he likes to make an entrance. So, but yeah, so, you know, and he's an inspiration to me every day and a, you know, he hand cycled across Canada. Come on. Yeah. So go and polio now.org to learn more about Ramesh. He's a fantastic person. And I did, I found out at my installation, Ramesh asked if anyone knew somebody who had polio and a lot of hands went up. Mine did not, but my mom's did. Apparently my great grandfather had polio and I never knew. Wow. Wow. You know, so we're all, you know, we've all been touched by it, you know, so, and that's just something in my family I never knew about. And I mean, yes, it was a few generations ago, but still, you know, I, if I was at a conference last September, the zone 28 and 32 conference, and I must've met probably a half a dozen people who have polio and you'd never know. So yeah, absolutely. Yep. So there's sort of people that keep you going.

SPEAKER_00: 25:37

So the challenge is what? One more time. So you're now officially speaking to everyone in my listening audience. What is your challenge, April?

SPEAKER_01: 25:48

Yes, the challenge is the district out there who increased has the highest percentage of Polio Plus Society members. By the end of this Rotary year, June 2026, we'll win a fabulous prize of a fancy banner saying they are the winners of this fantastic contest. And if you're interested in participating, if your district's interested in joining the challenge, all they have to do is email poliopluschallenge at gmail.com. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 26:17

And this is not just North America, which by the way is Canada and Mexico. Yes. Anywhere in the world. Anywhere in the world. So can we get some numbers during October and see how many you have? Because right now, how many districts you have right now? There's 12. 16. 16. Oh my God. I was shorting you. Four. I will not do that. And Any other supportive words for like the rest of the of the newbies out there that are district that are excuse me, not district conferencing, but our new district governors. You got you now you have comrades in arms. Are you? Yes. Any words of wisdom?

SPEAKER_01: 27:03

Yeah, I would say reach out to each other for support and lean on the people in your district. Don't do it alone. You have so many people out there willing to hold your hand and help you through it. So lean on them.

SPEAKER_00: 27:15

Miss April, thank you for being on the show. This was fun. This was fun. I hope people are going to look at the society. So we had, you know, if you're fans and longtime listeners of the show, we talked about vaccines and the problems that they have. We've talked about, not that the vaccines have, but the reputation that has now occurred. We now have this Polio Plus Challenge program. Hopefully it can fight the fatigue. Hopefully just some pure ego. We did something better than you can bring away some of that polio fatigue and get us over the line. Yes. Thank you, Gwen. Thank you. And I really do mean those words. I think we do have polio fatigue. I think there's a lot of people that are just like, oh, come on. We had like four people. That's not a lot. Well, it's not a lot. So let's push it over the edge and get it done. Okay, let's get it done. Let's get it done. Thank you, April, for being on the show. That challenge is out there. Ladies and gentlemen, they's and them's all over the world that can hear my voice. Join the challenge for the Polio Plus Society. You get a pin, you get a certificate, but you get to get us over the line. And we need it because there's lots of other things that we can take on. Let's get it done. like the environment or malaria or education or clean water or peace. Oh yeah, peace. Another big thing that the foundation does. So come on, join the society, join the challenge. Let's get us over the finish line so we can move on to other ways that Rotary can bring peace. beauty and wonder and magic and just greatness to the world. All right, then that is it for me. Thanks again, April. And thank you out there for listening to this podcast every single week. It is a labor of love and I do really enjoy doing it. And I'm so humbled that you're out there listening. If you'd like to check out my more musical side, do feel free to check out Rotary Radio UK. They even have an app. So cool. And until next week, please take care of yourself and the world around you. And we'll hear you next time on the Action to Impact podcast. Have a great week, everybody.