From now until November 15, Centreville Highschool’s very own Key Club and UNICEF Club are heading a fundraising effort for “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF”. This humanitarian effort works to provide aid/relief to better the conditions of at-risk and impoverished children all around the world. Of these ranging options, Key Club and UNICEF Club have designated that their donations go to specific causes. Key Club is working to eradicate neonatal tetanus while UNICEF Club has dedicated itself to immunizations, water tablets, and masks. Normally, these efforts would take place in person, but due to COVID-19, they have switched to a virtual method.

UNICEF Club has provided, essentially, a virtual toolbox for its members that allows them to earn coins for doing activities. These activities include watching informative videos, decorating pumpkins, and submitting a Halloween costume photo. These coins in return translate to actual money that UNICEF will donate on behalf of the club. For example, one video watched may translate to 5 coins, 10 coins are worth $1, which in return equates to 1 vaccine. Besides doing these activities, members and their friends and families have been donating actual money using UNICEF Club’s special link. If you have the means and resources, you too can help bring relief to thousands of children by donating to UNICEF Club’s special link which can be found at the end of the article. For those who want to contribute but can’t donate, telling friends and family is help enough…so please spread the word!

Key Club, on the other hand, is working on a special mission that it has dedicated itself to since 2010, called The ELIMINATE Project. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to completely eradicate neonatal tetanus (NNT). NNT is caused by tetanus spores, which are found everywhere in the environment, and they infect newborns through open cuts found on them; usually, babies contract the disease through their umbilical stumps. Normal stimuli, such as light and touch, cause them pain and they end up dying within two weeks. Through the combined effort of many organizations, NNT now only affects twelve of the hundreds of developing countries it used to. However, this still means that thousands of babies are lost each year when all that it takes to save them is a $1.80 vaccine. Key Club is part of a much larger organization, known as Kiwanis, which in itself has raised $86 million. Locally, Key Club and its counterparts in the DMV (Capital District Key Club) have raised $179,198.91, and they aim to raise $70,801.09 more in order to fulfill their pledge of $250,000. The money earned through “Trick-or-Treat UNICEF” will go towards vaccines, tetanus prevention, and transportation of resources. Key Club members are participating by donating money through their virtual collection box, but it is not limited to them; you can give back too using the link found at the end of the article. Donations can be as little as $5 dollars and are 100% tax-deductible!

Centreville Highschool students have continued to take initiative to make our world a better place through the many programs, clubs, and projects that they run. Robert Tyler Schroder, President of Key Club, has expressed the importance these projects have on the lives of others, saying “Every 17 minutes, a newborn baby dies from tetanus. All it takes is a single vaccine that costs less than a dollar to produce. Today, we are 75% to our local goal and have only 12 countries left with MNT. I’m proud to have CVHS’s Key Club remain involved in the effort to help eliminate MNT for good.” Paige Lee, President of UNICEF Club, expressed this as well with ““Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is a fundraising event that UNICEF holds every year. This year the event is completely virtual, and donations can be made through our digital trick-or-treat box. These funds help save children’s lives around the world by providing immunizations, sanitation, safe drinking water, health care, and more!”

While the initiatives have soared thanks to the work students put in, the contribution of friends, families, strangers, and Centreville residents are priceless. Donations can vary from as little as $5 to however much you want, and they are 100% tax-deductible. So please, if you have the capacity to donate and fund relief for the many impoverished children, use these links to help:

Key Club Neonatal Tetanus Link: https://tinyurl.com/wildcatkeyunicef

UNICEF Club General Relief: https://kpop.ukp.io/charities/tot/donation/form?hash=dXNlcklkPTUxMTI3NSZ0ZWFtSWQ9NTE5MjYmY2hhcml0eUlkPTEmdXNlck5hbWU9Q1ZIUyBVbmljZWY=&charity-app=TOT20&charity-type=DonationForm