For the second year Anacortes and Fidalgo Rotary Clubs teamed up to hold the “Pints for Polio” fundraiser to cure polio under the big top at the Rockfish Grill.  $4,700 was raised from members and guests while Monday Night football played on the big screen.

Better yet,  each of those dollars was matched by TWO additional dollars by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meaning every dollar collected at Rockfish provided one dose for one child.  Multiply by Rotary’s 35,000 clubs around the world and the collective impact is huge. Rotary launched its polio prevention drive in 1979 and has partnered with the Gates Foundation since 2007.  Polio cases have been reduced 99.9% and nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries have been protected.

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October is Rotary’s “End Polio Month”,  which is why the Anacortes and Fidalgo clubs along with many others around the world hold polio awareness events this time of year.  We are happy to do our part as part of this broad global effort.

The Club held this Wednesday’s lunch at Anthony’s Cabana where we honored none other than “Mr Anthony’s” himself,  founder Budd Gould, for his service to the community.

Anacortes Rotary & Anthony’s have been working together since 2011. The first Rotary dinner was hosted on January 17th and actually took place BEFORE Anthony’s official opening a few days later.  Then as now, ALL proceeds from dinner—not just the profits—went to the community.  That means Budd & Anthony’s have been generously donating the venue, the food, and their staff’s time to Anacortes for the last 11 years! 

10 dinners have raised a total of $200,000.  The money has supported a wide range of projects, causes and organizations, everything from the American Legion, Fidalgo Pool and the Anacortes Family Center to the Salvation Army, Hospice of the Northwest and the Anacortes Library. Money has gone to the Anacortes Senior Center, the Anacortes Waterfront Alliance and the Ready to Learn Fair.

Many grants have gone to programs at our elementary and secondary schools. They include but are not limited to:

• Support for the Robotics program and the Metals Club at Anacortes High School.

• Literacy nights at all Elementary schools.

• Ovens to support the Garden to Kitchen program at Anacortes Middle School.

Donations have been large: We gave the Boys & Girls Club 21,000 in 2014. And some have been small: We gave the AHS Spanish Dept. $169 in 2018 for supplemental Spanish magazines. Most grants fall in the $2,000 to $5,000 range.

There have been 32 recipients over the 10 years - some groups have received more than one grant - and 48 grants in all.  The Giving Committee, led by Rotarian Jack Darnton, has been overseeing the grant program since 2016 and making recipient recommendations to the Board.

All the grants have touched people in our community. Anthony’s generosity has made Anacortes a better place in so many ways. The gorgeous summer weather and the the Cabana provided the perfect day and place to thank Bud and Anthony’s once more for this wonderful partnership.