Rotary Letterkenny launches purple crocus planting for World Polio Day

Rotary Letterkenny is distributing purple crocus bulbs to schools and nursing homes in the area to mark World Polio Day on Saturday, 24 October.

Club members will visit a range of educational institutions, including Illistrin, Coláiste Ailigh, Woodlands, Finn Valley College and Loreto Letterkenny, handing out the bulbs and encouraging pupils to take part in a community gardening activity.

The project also extends to local nursing homes, building on Rotary’s tradition of visiting residents at Christmas and offering a shared activity that links generations.

At Ballymacool Town Park, the annual planting is overseen by Head Gardener David Donnelly and the Donegal County Council town gardening team, with the purple crocus symbolising the dye used on the little finger of children who have received the polio vaccine.

Rotary International’s PolioPlus programme, launched in 1985, has helped reduce global polio cases by more than 99.9 %, leaving wild poliovirus endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Letterkenny club hopes the planting will raise awareness of the ongoing need for vaccination, fundraising and public education.

By sharing bulbs with both schools and nursing homes, Rotary Letterkenny aims to foster friendship, community spirit and a collective contribution to the worldwide effort to eradicate polio.

Source: Donegal Daily. Photo: Ani Nedkova / Pexels.