Access to clean drinking water, nutritious food, and life-saving medical technologies.

In developed nations, such as the United States citizens have many advantages that help them lead happy, fulfilling lives.  In fact, for students, so much of this is taken care of by parents and guardians that these advantages are often taken for granted.  Meanwhile, in less fortunate parts of the world, families are robbed of their loved ones every day due to a lack of availability to vaccines for very treatable diseases.

The Key Club acknowledged this harsh reality and held a fundraiser in an effort to raise money to address the need.  Recenty, the club participated in a fundraiser for the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is working to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus throughout the world through The Eliminate Project.

According to Mrs. Mairin Schramm, the adviser, approximately 150 members participated in the fundraiser. She was pleased with what the $780 raised this year, although a few donations are still coming in. She learned a lot about the disease through the fundraiser.

“Tetanus, as we have found, is a very preventable disease, however some people do not have access to the vaccine shots required to prevent it,” explained Schramm.  “Through this drive, I have learned that tetanus is a very painful thing to have, and my favorite part about the whole thing is getting to help people and bring access to the medical care that we have access to to those in need.  UNICEF does a lot around the world to help people.”

She is proud of Key Club’s involvement.

“I think it’s great that Key Club gets involved because we have students who care and want to help, and through this, they raise awareness by reaching out to the community,” she added. “They go to the Halloween parade and raise funds there.  We really encourage them to reach out rather than just donate the money themselves.”

Junior Gabrielle Pullia, the club’s treasurer, said the fundraiser was a bondy experience for club members.

“My favorite part of the drive was seeing everyone work together.  Also, when we gathered all the money and counted it up, it was nice to see how much we really raised,” she said.

As a result of the club’s efforts, those less fortunate will finally be given the opportunity to prevent tetanus.