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For decades, the dreaded disease of polio robbed many of its victims of the ability to walk.
On Saturday, the Rotary clubs of Fort Dodge are inviting everyone to talk a walk to help put an end to polio once and for all.
The Walk to End Polio will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Matt Cosgrove River's Edge Discovery Center, 20 N. First St. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.
There is no registration fee, but a donation is requested. Casey Johnson, president of the Fort Dodge Rotary Club, said all the donations will be used for Rotary International's effort to eradicate polio.
Mary Kay Daniel, who is the walk coordinator for the Noon Rotary Club, said people can walk on any of the trails around the Discovery Center. She said walkers can go as far as they want to.
Refreshments will be provided.
Fort Dodge has two clubs -- Noon Rotary and Daybreak Rotary -- which are sponsoring the walk.
Rotary clubs across the country are hosting a Walk to End Polio on Saturday, with all them starting at 10 a.m.
Since Rotary International took on the eradication of polio 46 years ago, about 3 billion children in 122 countries have been vaccinated, according to Johnson.
But he said polio remains rampant in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Those two countries basically account for all the remaining polio cases in the world," he said.
Probably the most famous American polio patient was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led the country through the Great Depression and most of World War II from a wheelchair.
Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh in 1955.
By 1979, the disease was almost eliminated.