The Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff is inviting residents to the Lake Bluff Gazebo on Saturday, Oct. 24, for a walk supporting the global campaign to eradicate polio.

The club says it will join Rotarians worldwide in what organizers are calling the world's largest polio walk, timed to coincide with World Polio Day. The walk is part of Rotary International's End Polio Now campaign, according to the club's website.

The club did not list a start time or registration details for the Lake Bluff event.

A larger anchor walk is also planned for Saturday at Rotary International headquarters, One Rotary Center, at 1560 Sherman Ave. in Evanston. The Evanston Roundtable reported that participants there will begin gathering at about 9 a.m., with an opening ceremony at 9:30 a.m. and the walk stepping off at 10 a.m.

Rotary District 6440 Governor Rick Reigner will open the Evanston event, the Roundtable reported. Speakers will include Carol Pandak, director of PolioPlus, Rotary's global polio eradication program, and Mike McGovern, chair of the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee.

The walk supports Rotary's PolioPlus initiative, which the organization launched in 1985. Rotary co-founded the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, according to a City of Muscatine proclamation marking World Polio Day. Partners in the initiative include the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance, according to WHO's regional office for Africa.

Since the initiative began, global polio cases have dropped by more than 99.9%, the Muscatine proclamation stated. Wild poliovirus remains endemic in select regions.

The effort has seen recent progress. Five African countries closed polio outbreaks in 2026 after assessments confirmed transmission had been interrupted in Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Congo and Uganda, the WHO reported.

"Every outbreak closed means more children protected from a disease that can cause lifelong paralysis," McGovern said in a WHO statement on the closures.

Every dollar Rotary clubs raise for polio eradication is matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the Muscatine proclamation.

Residents interested in joining the Lake Bluff walk can check the Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff's website for updates.