Tullahoma Noon Rotary spread awareness for World Polio Day with their Purple Pinkie Donuts.

In 2017, Knoxville Rotarian and Dunkin’ franchisee, Dave Baumgartner, started thinking about how he could leverage his 20+ Dunkin’ locations to support World Polio Day and help raise awareness and money to help eradicate Polio worldwide. This led to the creation of the Purple Pinkie Donut—a glazed donut stick, with a dab of purple icing.

World Polio Day, which was on Oct. 24 this year, is also sometimes referred to as “Purple Pinkie Day”. During National Immunization Days kids have their pinkies marked with purple ink that lasts for 30 days to ensure they were not vaccinated more than once. When vaccinating millions of children in a short period, it was impossible to document, so every child had the little finger (pinkie) nail of their left hand painted with an indelible purple marker to ensure they only received one dose. This is how the “Purple Pinkie” became a symbol of a polio-free world.

Tullahoma Noon Rotary distributed Purple Pinkie Donuts, which were purchased by the club for the fundraiser, to various locations including the Chamber of Commerce, Fire/Parks & Police Departments, Coffee County Public Health Clinic, South Jackson Performing Arts, our local library, and more.

The Tullahoma Noon Rotary Club is dedicated to helping the community and raising awareness for important causes. If you want to get involved with the club or attend a meeting, email tullahomanoonrotary@gmail.com. Together, we can help make the world a better place.