Traci Hamilton, The Eliminate Project chair, and Leigh Ann Boyd, president of Kiwanis Club, begin fundraising effort to benefit Kiwanis Eliminate Project.
maternal, neonatal tetanus
The Kiwanis Club of Cleveland is joining forces with Kiwanis members across the globe in an effort to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus, a painful disease that kills one baby every nine minutes, or 160 newborns each day.
The Eliminate Project: Kiwanis eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus, is a global campaign that will save and protect the lives of millions of mothers and their future babies.
The disease 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.
“We have a wonderful opportunity to partner with UNICEF to help cure a worldwide disease” said Leigh Ann Boyd, president of Kiwanis Club of Cleveland.
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 Kiwanis Club of Cleveland has chosen Mother’s Day weekend to raise money for the project. The Club sold 30 hydrangea flowers and raised nearly $500 in the effort.
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 developing countries where health care is limited — and wipe out this cruel, centuries-old disease.
“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 create a path 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, in remote places and, in some cases, invisible to the world.
For more information about The Eliminate Project, please visit www.TheEliminateProject.org.
