Deutsch Press Release
Berlin, September 9, 2009"Donate cell-phones & fight Polio" - The ROTARY CLUB BERLIN INTERNATIONAL (i. Gr.) is starting with this motto a fundraising campaign using old cell-phones
Starting immediately, unneeded old cell-phones can be donated on the webpage www.handyspenden.de (handyspenden = donatecellphones), where the proceeds are given to fight infantile paralysis (Poliomyelitis, often called 'Polio' for short). The phones are refurbished and well-kept recent models can generate proceeds up to 100 EUR. For over 20 years, "A world without Polio" has been one of the driving goals of ROTARY, the worldwide active and oldest service club organization. Under the banner of POLIOPLUS ROTARY works together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF. The initiative has had great success, reducing the number of Polio cases by 99 percent: from 350,000 in 1988 to approx. 1,600 in 2008.
The ROTARY CLUB BERLIN INTERNATIONAL, currently in its founding stage, supports the life-saving POLIOPLUS initiative by organizing the sale and refurbishing of used cell-phones on the webpage www.handyspenden.de, together with its partner asgoodas.nu. The rebuilt phones can generate attractive proceeds, since people just wanting to telephone are happy with the functions offered on older models.
The ROTARY CLUB BERLIN INTERNATIONAL (i. Gr.) is the first ROTARY CLUB in Berlin whose meetings are held in English and whose members have international affiliations. Consequently, the club is aimed at the international community in Berlin and visiting guests from abroad. Since January 2009 weekly meetings have been held by around 20 members from, currently, eight nations (Argentina, Australia, India, Canada, Poland, Turkey, the United States and Germany).
ROTARY was founded in 1905 in Chicago and is the oldest service club organization in the world. It is a secular, non-political organization joining over 1.2 million men and women of all vocations in more than 33,000 clubs world-wide, with 967 clubs in Germany. Under the motto "Service above Self" the clubs not only support their own charitable projects, but also contribute to larger common projects such as POLIOPLUS.
Further information on the ROTARY project POLIOPLUS can be found at www.polioplus.de and information on ROTARY CLUB BERLIN INTERNATIONAL (i. Gr.) at www.rotary-berlin-international.de.
Media Contact: ROTARY CLUB BERLIN INTERNATIONAL (i. Gr.), Tim F. Besser
Phone: +49 30 60 98 19 555, Email: presse@rotary-berlin-international.de