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District 7430’s annual Purple Pinkie Event, which focuses our efforts on Rotary International’s goal of eradicating polio, will be held on Saturday, October 15 at Berks Nature in Reading, PA from 9am -2pm. The central venue for the event is The Nature Place at Berks Nature, which sits among nearly 100 acres in Reading’s Angelica Creek Park adjacent to Alvernia University. This reimagined event -- called ‘On the Trail to End Polio’ -- will carry on the legacy of the Yvette M. Palmer Race to ZERO! "Purple Pinkie” event that was held in the past in and around the Lehigh Valley. The organizing club, the Lehigh Valley Passport Club, desires to broaden the participation in the event by providing many active ways to engage. Also, some other clubs in our District will coordinate specific events during the day. This marks the first year of moving the event from the Lehigh Valley to the western part of District 7430.
At this October 15th event, we will have multiple opportunities to serve and participate including: a short 1.5-2 mile guided walk on a local trail, an informal 5K walk/run on a local trail, a 10-20 mile bike ride along the Schuylkill Valley River Rail Trail near the venue, service projects at the venue, an ‘all for fun’ dog parade and contest (coordinated by the Pottstown club), and to end the event, an onsite lunch for us to gather with our fellow participants. In addition, an associated event will be held on Saturday, October 8 for interested participants in our District: a 62 mile/100km ‘Metric Century’ bike ride along the Schuylkill River Rail Trail.
The objective for this District-wide event is to focus our attention and fundraising efforts on ending Polio. This critical goal remains important and relevant as polio has unfortunately been in the recent news, reminding us that while we are nearing an end, we are not there yet.
We will open registration for participants to the event which will include our social luncheon shortly. All participants and service volunteers are encouraged to participate in as many of the event’s functions as they desire and as time allows; additionally, participants are encouraged to seek their own personal sponsors for the various activities to raise even more funds for this important cause. We will communicate once registration is open and look forward to a great event for District 7430!