Kiwanis Club of Oskaloosa joins fight to save lives of children around the world
Kiwanis International
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Club seeks to raise awareness and funding for The Eliminate Project
The Kiwanis Club of Oskaloosa is joining forces with Kiwanis members across the globe in an effort to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), a painful disease that kills one baby every nine minutes, or 160 newborns each day.
“Being able to reach out and save the lives of millions of babies seems like an impossible task,” said Marsha Riordan, project coordinator for the local club. “But by partnering with Kiwanians worldwide, we know that this deadly disease can be eliminated.”
Community members are invited to attend the club’s meeting on Monday, July 9, when Riordan will describe the effort. The meeting will be held at 12:00 noon on the third floor of Atkins Memorial Union on the William Penn campus. Those who attend will be served lunch (reservations requested) as part of the meeting. Contact Riordan at 641-673-1045 for more information.
Maternal and neonatal tetanus is typically contracted through unhygienic childbirth practices. The goal of the project is to eliminate this swift, painful and highly preventable disease by vaccinating women of childbearing age, which will not only protect the mothers, but also their future babies.
As the world’s largest single donor, Kiwanis International is raising $110 million by 2015 for the project, which will ultimately protect at least 61 million women and their future babies who are at risk of this deadly disease. The funding supports UNICEF and its partners who have already eliminated MNT in 20 countries. With Kiwanis’ global volunteer network, along with UNICEF’s field staff and technical expertise, The Eliminate Project will serve those who live in 38 other developing countries where healthcare is limited and women and children are most at risk.
“For $1.80 we can protect a mother and her future babies from this deadly but preventable disease,” said Stan Soderstrom, Executive Director of Kiwanis International. “We can only do this with the support from our local clubs, and with their participation, we will eliminate MNT.”
The Eliminate Project will do more than protect women and babies from tetanus; it also will help pave the way for other services, such as clean water, nutrition and other vaccines, to reach the world’s most vulnerable people who are not served because they are poor, live in remote areas and, in some cases, seemingly invisible to the world.
For more information about The Eliminate Project, please contact Marsha Riordan at 641-673-1045 or email riordanm@wmpenn.edu. More information is also available at www.TheEliminateProject.org.
