Troy Rotary delivers Purple Pinkie Donuts to first responders

Published 10:33 am Tuesday, October 24, 2023

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The Troy Rotary Club was busy delivering donuts to first responders around Troy on Tuesday.

The Purple Pinkie Donut Project is a joint fundraising effort between Dunkin’ Donuts locations and Rotary Districts across Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and Kansas. The Alabama Rotary Districts participated in the program on Oct.2 4 and the Tennessee Districts participated on Oct. 25.

The “Purple Pinkie” donuts are in honor of National Immunization Days. In countries where the threat of Polio remains high, every child under five years old receives a polio vaccine by mouth twice per year. Because of the amount of children that are vaccinated it is impossible to document everyone, so every child that is vaccinated has their little finger, the pinkie finger, marked with purple nail polish on the left hand. The “Purple Pinkie” has become an international symbol of a Polio free world.

The Purple Pinkie Project is done in support of Polio vaccinations.

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Rotarians from each district pre-order 10-count boxes of “Purple Pinkie” donuts for a $25 donation per box. Because of matching funds from Rotary Districts and The Gates Foundation, every $25 donation results in another $187.50 donation. In the first five years of the project, The Purple Pinkie Donut Project has generated nearly $5 million in donations.

The Troy Rotary Club’s goal for this year was to raise $1,500, which would result in a total $11,250 donation because of the matching funds. To celebration the project, Troy Rotarians visited first responders at Troy Regional Medical Center, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, Troy Police Department, Charles Henderson Child Health Center, City of Troy Environmental Services Department and Troy Fire Departments and delivered Purple Pinkie donuts to them.