A CKI EVENT A DAY
This tumblr is here for me to put service project ideas, social ideas, fundraising ideas and much more for the members of CKI. I'm hoping that, eventually, it will be chock full of ideas of organizations to work with, socials to do and much more. Each "generalized" topic can be found in a separate navigation. There, similarly organized posts will be placed together.
To learn more about CKI, check out the separate page. :) As always, happy reading.
Website: http://sites.kiwanis.org/kiwanis/en/theeliminateproject/home.aspx
So for those who do not know, the Eliminate Project focuses one Eliminating Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) from the world through the use of vaccines. Three vaccines, enough to immunize a mother for up to ten years, costs only $1.80.
Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus is a disease that ravages the poorest of the poor. Most notably, these are third-world locations with little to no medical support. For women who live in these areas, sanitary birthing isn’t always a possibility. When the umbilical cord is cut with a rusty knife or a dirty tool, the tetanus virus has a high possibility of reaching both the mother and child.
When a child is infected with MNT, the child has little more than a week to live, experiencing pain, sensitivity to touch and light with little to no chance to live. Mothers, too, have a strong risk of dying.
The Eliminate Project is the Kiwanis Worldwide Initiative, worked on by Key Clubbers, CKI members and, truly, all branches of the Kiwanis Family. We hope to complete it by 2015 (the 100th anniversary of Kiwanis), but that means each and every member will have to participate in this endeavor.
One big reason why I focus on this project in particular is because it is (1) a partnership with Kiwanis and UNICEF and (2) a chance to change the world. The Eliminate Project is not the only project combating Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus, but it is the largest and the most financially supported portion of the fight against MNT.
Recently, Kiwanis Family members have discovered that you must donate your money in a specific way if you want to make sure it is going to the Eliminate Project. Because this is a joint Kiwanis and UNICEF project, there have been many clubs that have donated money to UNICEF (possibly under the memo “Eliminate”) thinking it would go to the Eliminate Project.
However, and this is very important to point out: if you are donating to the Eliminate Project, you MUST donate through Kiwanis. When you donate through UNICEF, it goes into the general pool of funds. The “general funds” can go to just about anything, from other projects (like Malaria Nets) to administrative funds.
To make sure you donate to the Eliminate Project, make sure you use one of these methods: http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/theELIMINATEproject/Give.aspx.
1) Credit Card, using an online donation form.
2) Via a check to The Kiwanis Foundation with the memo “The Eliminate Project” (not to UNICEF). The memo should also include the name of the District or club (example: “The Eliminate Project - Duke University”)
I emphasize this a lot because there are many clubs donating to the Eliminate Project that are not being credited. Even within New York, I found many clubs donating to UNICEF for Eliminate and not to the proper location.
For those giving to the Eliminate Project, please make sure you are donating to the Kiwanis Foundation (with the memo “Eliminate Project”).
:) If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me or check out the Eliminate Project website. It has a lot of great information AND a lot of awesome videos that you can use to promote the Eliminate Project in YOUR club. :)
Website(s):www.oxfam.org (Oxfam International) // http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ (Oxfam America)
Oxfam International is an international organization that focuses on world hunger, global poverty and social injustices. It’s site calls it “an international confederation of 15 organizations working together in over 90 countries and with partners and allies around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice” (http://www.oxfam.org/en/about).
Through various campaigns and programs, Oxfam hopes to not only bring awareness about social injustices and international activities, but also hopes to raise money to build facilities and fund programs that will benefit those living in poor or inadequate conditions. Currently, their most heavily promoted campaign is GROW, which is a campaign to grow fair and sustainable food to better utilize the scarce resources of this world.
Oxfam America is one particular branch in the Oxfam International community. Like Oxfam International, it focuses largely on global poverty and world hunger, but also has unique campaigns, such as the US Gulf Coast Recovery Campaign (http://www.oxfamamerica.org/campaigns/us-gulf-coast-recovery). What makes Oxfam America especially unique, however, is its “Take Action,” programs, which facilitate more upon education than actual donation. This essentially focuses more on publicity and awareness, rather than raising dollars.
This comes in many forms, including the ability to create “Oxfam Clubs,” their CHANGE Initiative Program, and the Oxfam Banquet.
Overall, Oxfam is particularly good at advocacy, particularly if your club is looking towards those kind of global projects (as opposed to strictly fundraising ones).
Website- http://www.betterworldbooks.com/
Better World Books is an for profit organization which donates to various book donation programs and facilitates book drives across many campuses in the United States. Not only are they one of Circle K International’s International Service Partners (http://www.circlek.org/Service/Partners/BetterWorldBooks.aspx), but they help campuses across the country with materials and promotional flyers to support book drives.
In total, Better World Books works with 5 main organizations: Books For Africa, Invisible Children, the National Center for Family Literacy, Rooms to Read and Worldfund. Most of these organizations are focused on improving the lives of children everywhere through the power of literacy, education and reading.
There are several ways to get involved with Better World Books. First, and probably the most easy (as we are all college students), you can buy from them! Better World Books (BWB) sells textsbooks, usually at a reasonable price, and they often donate a book to one of their partners. This program is called “Book for Book” (http://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/book-for-book).
You can also participate in BWB goals by organizing a book drive on your campus. Better World Books supplies campuses with materials, book drive bins and so much more to make sure planning a BWB Book Drive is easy, fun and (most importantly) productive!
To check out more about how to organize a book drive, check out one of our earlier posts about it: Project #4 - Book Drives, http://365cki.tumblr.com/post/17549496258/project-4-host-a-book-drive
Website - http://thehpalliance.org/
The Harry Potter Alliance is a national organization, inspired from the Harry Potter series, which focuses on charity work and serving the community. The Harry Potter Alliance (HP Alliance) often organizes a variety of “campaigns” (or causes) with which people can donate to or support. HP Alliance has several chapters or clubs on campus throughout the United States.
Some of their larger campaigns have included Not in Harry’s Name (an advocacy campaign to encourage Warner Brother to start using Fair Trade Products for chocolate frogs), Accio Books (Donating Books) and the Deathly Hallows Campaign (Assigning certain causes to horcruxes and trying to “defeat” all the horcruxes).
Because of the large variety of service projects that they cover, the Harry Potter Alliance organization is also a great way to get inspiration for future projects and causes, particularly if you are in a derth of service projects.
