Fall Seasons of Service

The fall season of service is UNICEF. Last year, the initiative was Kicking HIV/AIDs Out of Kenya, a program that used soccer to spread awareness and teach leadership among girls. After raising $660,000 for the initiative through trick-or-treating for UNICEF, there is now a new initiative: the Swazi Children Care Project.

Swaziland is a landlocked country in Africa where 42% of the adult population is stricken with HIV/AIDs. To give you a comparable estimate, that’s the total population of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago pooled together. This staggering statistic leaves many children in Swaziland orphaned; in fact, 21% of all households in Swaziland are headed by children themselves, with older siblings taking care of younger ones.

Thus all the money raised for the Swazi Children Care Project will go towards care points across Swaziland that will provide children with a safe place to stay during the day. It is also at the care points that the children are provided with one meal, as well as adult supervision and basic education. Moreover, the care points serve as places where kids can interact with other kids in similar dilemma and situations of poverty.

The fundraising goal for the Swazi Children Care Project is two million dollars. So get out there, with your friends, your school, and your community, and help raise money for The Swazi Children Care Project!

The most popular way to raise money for UNICEF is through treat-or-treating. When it comes to trick-or-treating for UNICEF, it may be fun to team up with a rival school and have a competition to see which school raises more money. Also, several weeks before Halloween, place the orange UNICEF boxes (included in fall mailings) in every classroom and ask students to donate. From my experiences, passing the box around at the start of class every few days will garner more donations than just leaving the box in one place.

A twist to trick-or-treating for UNICEF would be to order a few life-size costume trick-or-treating boxes for members to wear on Halloween night. To order, (each costume costs $25) call 1-800-KIWANIS, ext. 390 or 317-875-8755, ext. 390. The box item number is 92102.

However, your club is certainly not limited to participating in UNICEF through trick-or-treating. Check out these other activities and fundraisers:

--Spreading awareness about HIV/AIDs. Go to your local middle school and teach the students about the causes of HIV/AIDs and how easily the disease could be contained, or start an awareness program at your local YMCA, YWCA, or Red Cross.

--Sell Halloween candy at lunch and donate the proceeds to UNICEF.

--Host a haunted house, and donate the proceeds to The Swazi Children Care Project.

--If there is an historical building or in old mansion in your city, see if you could have a haunted mansion tour fundraiser. Have volunteers visit and research the house beforehand, and then explain to paying guests spooky twisted tales about the house and/or building.

--Sell Halloween insurance anyone in your community. By selling them insurance, you should promise to clean up any vandalism, tepee, or graffiti that happens on their property on Halloween night. Donate all proceeds to UNICEF