Shirley Griffin, a Polio Survivor and a Past District Governor of Rotary International District 5830 and member of the Rotary Club of Longview, Texas, was awarded the prestigious International Service Award for a Polio-Free World by Rotary International Directongvir Suzi Howe at the Rotary Club of Loew meeting on August 17th. Her award was one of three in the entire world.
Gregg County and the City of Longview declared August 17th as “Shirley R Griffin Day! Congressmen Louie Ghomert presented Shirley with a US flag that flew over the Capital in her honor.
 
PDG Shirley has been an outspoken advocate of Rotary’s involvement in ridding the world of Polio Myelitis. She was diagnosed with Polio at 9 years of age, when she contracted the disease four years before the first polio vaccine became available.
 
Shirley joined the Rotary Club of Longview, Texas after women were first allowed to join Rotary, and has now been a dedicated Rotarian for over 25 years.  She was District Governor of Rotary District 5830 in 2011-2012.  She has served on the District PolioPlus Committee under the new TRF grant structure since July 2013. She was PolioPlus Chair in District 5830 from 2014-2015 through the 2020-2021 Rotary year. She has served as Rotary Foundation Chair for her Rotary Club of Longview from 2016-2017 through 2018-2019. During her tenure, she has chaired Draw Downs, Car and Truck raffles, and a Rolex watch raffle, and has spoken throughout the Zone on PolioPlus and counseled clubs on the best fundraising techniques for PolioPlus events.
 
She traveled to India in 2012 to assist in administering the oral polio vaccine to children during a National Administration Drive (NID). Following the NID inoculation, she stayed 4 more days to participate in the National Indian Congress announcement of India becoming free of Polio.
By her efforts she has amassed through our District 5830 alone over $750,000.00 for the benefit of PolioPlus before matches by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the World Health Organization. Her goal is for District 5830 to raise $1,000,000.
 
Shirley has spoken at numerous national and international speaking engagements on the value of Rotary PolioPlus programs at her own expense.
Most recently she was recognized in AARP Magazine for her work to defeat Polio.  She was previously recognized by the Longview News Journal for her work on behalf of PolioPlus and the Rotary Foundation.
 
PDG Shirley Griffin is a Paul Harris Major Donor +2, a member of the Paul Harris Society and a Sustaining Member of the Foundation.
Our District is truly blessed to have Rotarians like PDG Shirley Griffin.