Eliminate Project

The EliMiNaTe Project is off to a good start here in the New York District. As of December 19, 2011, our total gifts and pledges amount to $178.977.63, and pledges and contributions keep coming in. This translates into almost 100,000 lives saved. What an auspicious achievement for the beginning of the campaign!

Just to give you a sample of what has been done already: The Patchogue Club made a donation of $10,000 in the fall and Fordham became the first Model Club in our district. (Hope more Model Clubs will follow!) Our Service Leadership Programs are working side-by-side with us. The Bowling Green K-Kids collected $1,200 in their Trick or Treat Drive for UNICEF, designating it for EliMiNaTe. Key Club's Divisions 8, 8A, 9, 10, and 11 Rally raised $1,160 on the day of the Halloween surprise snowstorm in New York City, and the Long Island Circle K Division wrote, produced, and staged a delightful Murder Mystery Dinner at Adelphi University in November which raised $3,300. I know that there have been more fund raising events for EliMiNaTe throughout the district, but these are the ones that have come to my attention. Please let me know what your clubs are doing, and I will include this information in my next article.

But these examples, as wonderful and memorable as they are, do not tell the whole story. A number of Charter Zellers were awarded before the charter program ended Sept. 30, and contributions towards Zellers keep coming in. The sale of the wristbands bordered on the phenomenal, which was a pleasant surprise for the Campaign Headquarters in Indianapolis, but not a surprise for me. I knew we could sell all the wristbands allotted to us, and more!

I am so proud of us, the Kiwanis Family in the New York District. And, like all families, we love to celebrate with each other. There is a wonderful occasion to celebration this month - Kiwanis' 97th birthday. Through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, we Kiwanians have kept true to our purpose of serving our local communities and the world community. We strive to change the world, one child and one community at a time. This commitment was evident in our campaign to rid the world of IDD, and we did it! The world is a better place today because of Kiwanis. If you were a member of Kiwanis in the 1990s, you can rightly be proud of the contribution you made.

But this is not the time for us to rest on our laurels. Our New York State motto is "Excelsior," meaning ever upward, ever onward. Now we have an opportunity to make a significant change with the EliMiNaTe Project. In 38 countries of the world today, maternal neonatal tetanus is a deadly disease. Tetanus spores, which are found all over and cannot be eradicated, pose a real danger to mothers in areas where there are unsanitary birthing conditions. Tetanus can enter the baby through the cut umbilical cord and leads to an excruciatingly painful death marked with increased sensitivity to light, south and other sensory stimuli. Worse than these conditions are the severe convulsions that the baby suffers. One child dies from MNT every nine minutes, and many mothers die as well. I shudder at the thought of the anguish of these parents as they see their baby suffer without being able to comfort the child. Holding the baby, saying soothing words or singing lullabies only make the problem worse.

In the face of such a terrible scourge, we Kiwanians are once again posed to make a momentous gift to humanity. MNT can be eliminated by a series of three injections, at a cost of 60 cents each -- $1.80 is all is takes to immunize a woman and her future unborn children. Surely each one of us can find this much change in our pockets or purses!

We are also in need of Kiwanians to serve the project as Division Coordinators or Club Chairs. A Division Coordinator assists the clubs in his/her division under the guidance of the Multi-Division Coordinator. The Club Chair would lead the fund raising activities of his/her club and oversee the preparing of reports. Ideally, the persons accepting these positions would agree to serve for the length of the campaign. For a more detailed description of these roles, please contact me at kirmse@fordham.edu or call me at (718) 817-4746. I will answer your questions and direct you to the Multi-Division Coordinator in your area.

It is truly my privilege to serve you in the capacity of District Coordinator for the EliMiNaTe Project. If there is any way that I can be of assistance, please let me know. I would be happy to come to a club or division meeting (within reasonable distance, of course, during the school year), to explain the project more fully. Just invite me!

Column Posted on Web Site February 3, 2012