SANDPOINT — Would you give up a fortune, even to help other people? That’s precisely what Jonas Salk — the inventor of one of the first polio vaccines — did.

Born Oct. 28, 1914, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Poland, Salk entered a public school for gifted students and proceeded to read everything he could get his hands on. After graduating, he enrolled in City College of New York — at 15 years old; and then New York University’s medical school with the intention of not becoming a doctor but to become a medical scientist, according to Wikipedia.

In his post-graduate studies and his research career, Salk would be involved with finding a vaccine for influenza but it was when he was asked in the late 1940s by the director of research at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis if he would join the foundation’s polio project that history would be made.

Later known as the March of Dimes, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis director told Salk the foundation would pay for additional space, including equipment and researchers, at his lab at the University of Pittsburgh. While many researchers were using “live” vaccines, Salk decided to go a different route — he would use a “killed” vaccine — where the virus particles are grown in a culture and killed in some manner.

By 1952, Salk’s vaccine was ready to be testing on people. After smaller studies, a million children would become “polio pioneers” and be injected with the vaccine in 1954. On April 12, 1955, the vaccine was declared safe and the announcement was headline news.

When asked later by broadcast journalist Edward Murrow who owned the patent, Salk’s response was direct. “No one. Could you patent the sun,” notes the Wikipedia article.

In that same vein of selfless dedication to others is the Sandpoint Lions’ Toys For Tots campaign as members focus on helping others have a merry, magical Christmas.

Today, the Lions have received $603.10 in donations, bringing the total for this year to $24,368.14 Today’s generous donations come from: M. Charmayne Campbell and John, $50; anonymous, $100; Shirley Mitchell and Family (in loving memory of past Lions Club president, Don Mitchell), $25; American Legion Post No. 146 Clark Fork, $100; Delbert and Mona Sheffler, $50; Robert and Barbara Wynhausen, $100; The Hound coin jar, $12.65; Pend Oreille Winery coin jar, $45.23; Trinity coin jar, $9.40; Mr. Sub coin jar, $110.82.

The goal for this year’s campaign is $50,000 — the same as it has been in past years. The Lions make the most of the money by shopping bargains, and with the assistance of generous local businesses.

The Toys for Tots program provides free new toys for children living in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in-between. A Christmas dinner for the family is also provided.

Those who need help this year can apply at the Lions Den, 607 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint (west of Memorial Field next to the Bonner County Historical Museum.)

The Lions Den will be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday, Dec. 19, so members can accept applications. Applications also are available at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare office.

If you have any questions about Toys for Tots sign-up, call Judy Dabrowski, 208-290-5314.

Donations for Toys for Tots can be dropped off at the front desk at the Bonner County Daily Bee, 310 Church St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Donations also can be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, P.O. Box 414, Sandpoint, ID, 83864

You can also drop off donations at Columbia Bank’s main branch in Sandpoint, 414 Church St., or at the Ponderay branch, 300 Kootenai Cutoff Road.

Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please include a note.

If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.

New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at:

Sagle — Stacey’s Country Kitchen and Travel America Plaza-Conoco.

Sandpoint — Farmin-Stidwell Elementary, Eagles, Sandpoint Fire Department, Columbia Bank, and Wells Fargo.

Kootenai and Ponderay — Columbia Bank, Bradley Insurance, North 40 Outfitters, and Samuels Store and Blue Heron Cafe.

Hope — Holiday Shores.