Kiwanis January 28 Meeting Program: Barrie Werfel, Past NJ District Governor Spoke on Project ELIMINATE

Barrie Werfel (right in photo), member of the Kiwanis Project ELIMINATE Speakers Bureau, spoke about the project. Lance Incitti (left), President of Kiwanis International Foundation, introduced Barrie and gave an overview of the Foundation.

With The Eliminate Project, Kiwanis International and UNICEF have joined forces to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. This deadly disease steals the lives of nearly 60,000 innocent babies and a significant number of women each year. The effects of the disease are excruciating — tiny newborns suffer repeated, painful convulsions and extreme sensitivity to light and touch.

Barrie reported that progress is being made.  However, more funds are needed. Check out the Kiwanis International Project ELIMINATE website to learn more.

Green Village resident Nickie Cheney was awarded a Walter Zeller Certificate of Appreciation In support of Kiwanis Project ELIMINATE.

Nickie Cheney (left in photo) of Green Village, NJ proudly wears her Walter Zeller medal. It was given to her at the June 18, 2013 Kiwanis meeting held at Charlie Brown’s Restaurant in Chatham Township. In the center is her mother Penny Nichols Wilson of Milton, Florida. Michael Mulhaul (right), District Coordinator of the Kiwanis NJ District Project ELIMINATE campaign was on hand to make the presentation.

Penny is a Kiwanian who served as President of Florida’s Kiwanis Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise from 2009 to 2011. She wanted to give her daughter a memorable Mother’s Day gift this year. She chose a contribution, in Nickie’s name, to project ELIMINATE.

Project ELIMINATE will stamp out Maternal Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) by raising funds for inoculating women in 30 third world countries, where MNT is a serious problem. In those countries, women give birth in unsanitary conditions where the newborn baby is infected with tetanus. The baby dies a horrible death within two weeks, which is easily preventable by inoculating all women against tetanus - at a cost of only $1.80 per person. Kiwanis International is raising 110 million dollars and directing the funds to UNICEF, which handles the distribution of funds to countries which have the greatest need. This project is for women of child-bearing age, many in remote areas. One baby dies every 9 minutes because of MNT. New Jersey Kiwanis is raising a little over one million dollars to support the project. Click here to learn more about ELIMINATE.

Kiwanis International acknowledges major contributions to ELIMINATE by presenting a Walter Zeller Award. A special broche is included for Mother’s Day. Michael Mulhaul, who is a past Governor of the Kiwanis NJ District, made all the arrangements to obtain and present the award to Nickie, who was an active member of Key Club in high school. The award was a surprise to Nickie and she graciously thanked her mother and Kiwanis for the gift.

ELIMINATE – Kiwanis eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus

Kiwanis, UNICEP join forces to save 129 million mothers and newborns. The Eliminate Project will protect mothers and babies from Tetanus.

At the July 6 Chatham Kiwanis meeting, club President Rich Behling donned his ELIMINATE-labeled hat and overviewed the new Kiwanis World Service Project. The ELIMINATE project was introduced at the July 2010 Las Vegas Kiwanis International Convention. The project is similar in scope to the IDD project carried out several years ago. The objective is to eliminate Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus (MNT), with affects 129 million people each year in third-world countries. Pregnant women get tetanus and when the baby is born it suffers agonizing pain and dies within 2 weeks. Only three 60-cent shots ($1.80 total) would save 60,000 babies from this terrible death every year. Kiwanis is partnering with UNICEF - Kiwanis will raise the money and UNICEF will distribute the shots. Total cost is $110,000,000.

Nancy Boucher reported that Lauren Kapsky (former CHS Key Club officer and Chatham Kiwanis Scholarship winner) was a member of the project selection committee. Several projects were analyzed leading up to selection of the ELIMINATE project.

Rich shared information brought back from the convention with President-Elect Dick Plambeck so he can implement the project in our club next year. A regular Kiwanis meeting program including video is planned for November.

Click on this Kiwanis link to learn more about ELIMINATE.