(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who’s a pilot has completed two missions to raise worldwide awareness of Rotary’s push to end polio. This fall, Peter Teahen of Cedar Rapids and a pilot from New Jersey took a 37 day journey across the Atlantic and raised a million dollars for the Rotary Foundation.

Teahen flew a single-engine plane around the world in 2023 and raised over two MILLION dollars for the effort. Teahen notes each shot of polio vaccine costs just two dollars — and the Gates Foundation is matching the donations.

Teahen’s co-pilot and fellow Rotarian on that 2023 mission was John Ockenfels of Swisher. There are fewer than 270 pilots alive today who’ve flown around the globe and Ockenfels says they intentionally took the Rotary logo off their plane — just in case.

Ockenfels and Teahen travel to Rotary clubs around the country to talk about their journeys and Rotary’s global effort to eradicate polio. Over the past 40 years, the organization has helped immunize more than two-and-a-half BILLION children against polio in 122 counties. Polio remains endemic in just two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan.