UNICEF announces MNT elimination in Mali

UNICEF announces MNT elimination in Mali

With help from organizations including Kiwanis, Mali is the latest country to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

By Erin Chandler

Kiwanis International joins organizations and individuals around the world in celebrating the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in Mali. On April 24, UNICEF confirmed that Mali is the most recent country to achieve MNT elimination out of the priority countries identified in 1999 — those with more than one case of neonatal tetanus per 1,000 live births. 

MNT is a painful and deadly disease that disproportionately affects areas where poverty, lack of education and inadequate health infrastructure make unhygienic birth practices more common. Kiwanis partnered with UNICEF in its global campaign to eliminate MNT in 2010, and since then, newborn deaths from tetanus have dropped significantly. Twenty-eight of the 49 priority countries that have achieved MNT elimination have done so since Kiwanis became involved in the project. Prior to Mali, the most recent was Chad in 2019. 

In 2023, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund granted US$275,000 to UNICEF to help facilitate mass tetanus vaccination campaigns for women of reproductive age in countries such as Pakistan, Guinea and Yemen, where MNT remains a significant threat. The grant also funded the assessments and surveys that validated the elimination of MNT in Mali, and it will help strengthen the health systems there to ensure that MNT does not make a comeback. 

Support for UNICEF’s fight against MNT is just one way Kiwanis has furthered the cause of children’s health around the world. In June, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund’s Pediatric Medicine Support Grant Program awarded funds to help renovate a burn unit at a children’s hospital in Jamaica, add a pediatric play therapy room to a new hospital in North Dakota, U.S., and deliver comfort items to hospitalized kids in California, U.S. In addition, Children’s Fund grants and microgrants fund Kiwanis club projects like free clinics and health screenings, meal programs and accessible playgrounds every month in communities around the world. 

You can make a gift to the Children’s Fund today to make a healthier world possible for kids everywhere. 

Five favorite fundraisers

Five favorite fundraisers

Kiwanis clubs around the world are getting creative with their fundraising. These successful moneymakers could offer inspiration for your club.

It’s an age-old problem: You’ve got to make money to spend money. Your club is no different than the next when it comes to money. Everyone needs some. The more, the better.

Over the years here at Kiwanis magazine, we’ve seen our share of great fundraising events. We’ve had our taste buds tantalized with incredible food festivals and we’ve been wowed by one sporting activity after another, from one side of the world to the other. It seems Kiwanians have some unique and fun ideas when it comes to bringing in the cash, and we wanted to highlight a few of our favorites.

Happy crew 3

Some of the best fundraisers out there are annual events with decades under their belts. Others are quite new and still knock our socks off.

What are you doing in your community to not only make people aware of your Kiwanis club, but also to make some money to help provide service to children and families?

We hope you’ll get some inspiration from a few of our favorites. Go raise some money. And have fun!

 


CIMG2040

Dinner In White

Kiwanis Club of Nürnberg-Franken, Germany

Elegant white-themed meals raise money for a hospice service for terminally ill children. The event raises awareness for Kiwanis as well.

Estimated amount raised: 4,000 euros

Estimated attendance: More than 100

Tips for your club: Create enthusiasm through word-of-mouth advertising, fliers with information about the event and your club. Stage the event in an area that has heavy foot traffic so others are intrigued.


DayofShow1201

Zozobra

Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, New Mexico

Annual event that rids the town of doom and gloom. Residents and visitors write down their worries and stresses. Then their notes are placed inside a 50-foot marionette known as Old Man Gloom. And then set afire.

Estimated amount raised: US$100,000

Estimated attendance: 60,000

Tips for your club: While we know Zozobra is a one-of-a-kind event, we encourage you to take a hard look at the community in which you live and determine what makes it unique. Then build an event around that. The fundraiser could focus on food, music, agriculture, a historic landmark, a waterway. Oh, the possibilities!


credit Sharpshooter

Biltmore Classic

Kiwanis Club of Asheville, North Carolina

An annual 5K/15K race on the grounds of the historic Biltmore Estate.

Estimated amount raised: US$20,000

Estimated attendance: 1,000

Tips for your club: Road races are a huge success for many clubs and could be for yours as well. Runners take their races seriously. Consider hiring a professional fundraising group to help.


DSC_1527

Rock Shrimp Festival

Kiwanis Club of St. Marys, Georgia

This annual festival celebrates the area’s sweet delicacy from the sea and offers a parade, vendors, road races and more.

Estimated amount raised: US$14,000

Estimated attendance: 5,000-10,000

Tips for your club: Street fairs are great fun and can draw big crowds, so plan for food, music, merchandise and fun activities. Center your fair around a local food favorite!


DSC_9786

sKreamers

Kiwanis Club of Orleans, Ontario

Ottawa’s scariest haunted attraction offers two haunted barns, zombie paintball, scary wagon rides and more.

Years in existence: 14

Dollars raised: CAD$30,000

Number of attendees: 6,000- 10,000 annually

Tips for your club: Start small and grow as public response increases. Scavenge in your community to find inexpensive props. The club produces a manual of rules and trains its 250 student volunteers how to make visitors sKream.


This story originally appeared in the October 2018 issue of Kiwanis magazine.

How to plan a prosperous race fundraiser

How to plan a prosperous race fundraiser

A Kiwanis club in Florida, U.S., has held a 5K run for 16 years. Their tips can help you meet your fundraising mark. 

By Julie Saetre

In January 2024, the Fort Myers Metro-McGregor Kiwanis Club held its 16th annual BUG Chase 5K run. Nearly 300 enthusiastic participants raced along trails at a local nature center, helping the club raise over US$12,000. 

Proceeds from the race benefit the club’s Bringing Up Grades program at three local elementary schools as well as other club-sponsored youth service projects.  

At the helm of this successful effort was Rachel Toomey, the BUG Chase chair and the club’s public relations chair.  

“Rachel is results-driven,” says Kim Berghs, the club’s secretary and a BUG Chase team member, “and extremely organized.” 

While the race itself and its financial results are impressive, the long hours and hard work behind the scenes by Toomey and her dedicated team are just as significant. Their combined experience makes these Kiwanians ideal resources for other clubs hoping to replicate results by starting their own fundraising runs. Below, Toomey and Berghs offered a primer on organizing a race and/or walk, from initial planning to effective follow-up. 

Prerace planning 

  • Start early. Give yourself a minimum of at least six months to prepare. 
  • Designate a director. Make sure that person has a team of support volunteers.  
  • Delegate duties. Create a shared Google Doc or similar folder and give key volunteers access so they can store information, enter updates and cross reference details. This avoids an endless stream of easily misplaced emails. 
  • Pick a date wisely. Research other walks and races in your area so your target participants don’t have to choose between your event and others. 
  • Recruit sponsors. Create an attractive sponsorship packet with detailed benefits and deadlines. Ask a club member to take charge of sponsorships. 

Member engagement 

  • Identify which members can volunteer on race day. Assign pre- or post-race tasks to members who can’t attend the event. 
  • Call on your Service Leadership Program members to volunteer on race day. With a large event, you’ll need many hands to help. 
  • Make sure race-day volunteers are assigned tasks that they can comfortably complete at their mobility, skill and ability levels. 

Support services 

  • Work with a professional race-timing company. Different timing companies offer different services. Get two or three quotes and compare details to find a company that best fits your needs and budget. 
  • Look into race software such as RunSignup to handle registration, check in runners and post results. 
  • Select a vendor for race shirts and awards. Make sure to get deadlines for orders and schedule those into your timeline. 
  • Ask your community partners and the schools/organizations sponsoring your Service Leadership Programs to help you promote the race. Let them know how they will benefit from race funds raised. 
  • Reach out to coaches of running clubs and track teams at local schools. “Over half of our race registrants this year were from local run clubs,” Toomey says. 

Race day necessities 

  • Ask local law enforcement or safety officers to help with traffic control. This might come with a fee, so budget accordingly. 
  • Recruit on-the-ground safety assistance. The Metro-McGregor BUG Chase team fills out a request form each year to ask for volunteers to help with safe pedestrian crossing from the parking area to the registration and race-start locations. 
  • Request donations from local companies (grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.) for race-day food and water; be sure to recognize them as in-kind sponsors. 
  • Be flexible. With so many moving parts — literally and figuratively — a lot of items will be out of your control. “Roll with the punches,” Toomey says, “and lean on your Kiwanis members for help.” 

Post-race follow-up 

  • Ask for feedback. Toomey sends a post-event survey to all runners, sponsors and other participants. Included are links to race results, event photos and business sponsors. “I forward that email to all club members (some were also participants) so they can see the nice recap and access the same information,” Berghs says. 
  • Thank sponsors. Two club members send out personal letters of thanks to sponsors and in-kind sponsors. “Included in each letter is an actual thank-you letter or two from children in some of the elementary schools where we do a WorldAtlas distribution,” Berghs says. “That way the sponsor can see firsthand one of our club projects from the eyes of a child.”