Hundreds partake in Bend’s ‘Pints for Polio’

A pub crawl staged in Bend on Saturday afternoon had a bigger goal than many — to help eradicate polio worldwide.

Polio, the deadly disease, has been around since Egyptian times.

Currently, three countries continue to deal with the problem.

A dozen local pubs sponsored Saturday’s crawl, which was put on by the Rotary Club of Greater Bend.

Around 300 people signed up to get a pint glass and take it to each pub to get a six-ounce pour of beer.

Last year’s event was so successful, the Rotary Club said they had to put it on again this year.

“I love good beer,” said Cort Vaughan, Rotary Club member and End Polio Now chairman. “Bend has such an incredible beer culture, with all the brew pubs that are here, and all the great beer that we have to sample.

“So by putting those together and getting everybody to come out on a sunny day and enjoy a good beer for a great cause, it’s fun.”

About $6,000 was raised last year, and organizers said they expect a similar level of success for this year’s event.

The Rotary Club sends all of the money to the Rotary Foundation, which then gives to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Learn more here: http://www.greaterbendrotary.org/PintsForPolio.cfm/