Article published in The Compass, Trinity and Conception Bays, Nova Scotia on May 8, 2007"
Bill Bowman, The Compass
Tens of thousands of children around the world are getting a more comfortable night's sleep, thanks to the inspiration and generosity of one man.
Murray Dryden may not be as well known across Canada as his hockey legend son, Ken, who went on to a political career as a federal cabinet minister and candidate for leadership of the federal Liberal party. But the elder Dryden will long be remembered as the founder and driving force behind an organization, which, for 37 years, has been helping disadvantaged children around the world.
Murray Dryden, founder of Sleeping Children Around the World came from humble roots, having grown up on a small farm in Manitoba.
As a young man, his desire to become independent saw him leave home. But instead of heading west, he headed east.
After more than two years of travel, he would end up in Toronto, a journey that, under normal circumstances, would have taken a matter of days.
But this was the early 1930s - better known as the dirty thirties - the years of the Great Depression, when abject poverty was rampant and the road to anywhere was a rough one.
Gwen Morris of Harbour Grace will never forget meeting Murray Dryden in 1989. Impressed by how "down to earth" Dryden was, Morris was also inspired by his strong dedication and commitment to the cause he was championing.
Last Monday, April 29, the soft-spoken Harbour Grace woman came to the Carbonear Memorial Library to speak to members of the Harbour Grace and Carbonear Library boards about Dryden and the organization he founded.
Recounting his first journey from home, she told the group: "Most nights he slept anywhere but in a comfortable bed. Very seldom having a good meal, he sometimes went for days without anything to eat. Most of the time, all he had was the clothes on his back."
But in Toronto, he worked hard to get on his feet and build up a successful construction business. Eventually, his success would allow him to travel the world.
In 1970 while travelling in Pakistan, Murray Dryden stumbled over a child sleeping in a street.
According to a volunteer worker with his organization, the image of that child was to grow and become the focus of his and Margaret's (his wife's) retirement years.
The image of that sleeping street child must have reminded Dryden of his own humble beginnings at home in Canada. He once said: "There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping child."
When he retired in 1972, Dryden devoted all his time and energy to Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), the new Canadian charity he and his wife had launched two years earlier.
The organization's main focus is to provide bed kits to children around the world, who do not have a place to put their heads at night.
The bed kits include: a mattress, blanket, pillow and pillow cases, a toy, two sets of pyjamas, pencils, paper and a carrying bag. Sometimes, depending on the location, other items such as mosquito nets may be provided, if they are needed.
The organization works in third world countries where kits are distributed, through churches, the Salvation Army, and service clubs like Rotary, YMCA and Kiwanis International.
It was through Kiwanis that Gwen Morris first met Murray Dryden. Gwen's late husband, Frank, was a past president of the Kiwanis Club of Carbonear and Governor of Kiwanis for Newfoundland and Labrador. They met Dryden at a Kiwanis International convention in 1989.
Children in India, Indonesia, Portugal, the Philippines, Columbia, Argentina, Thailand and Honduras have all benefitted from the bed kits provided by Sleeping Children Around the World.
While the donations to provide the bed kits come from Canada, the kits themselves are actually made up in the countries where they are being used - providing much needed employment there.
The numbers of kits distributed on each trip can vary from 1,000 to 11,000.
Some 5,000 bed kits were distributed to needy children in Kenya in March of this year, bringing to 869,850, the total number of kits provided since the organization was launched.
Recalling that when he started the organization, Murray Dryden's goal was to provide a million bed kits to needy children, Gwen Morris said last week, "they are getting close to reaching his goal."
One woman who helped distribute bed kits in India said: "There is such a huge quantity of unconditional love that accompanies each gift of a bed kit, that to be part of a recent distribution was a very healing experience for me."
In the early 1970s, when the organization was launched, the bed kits could be provided for $15 each. Now inflation has doubled that cost to $30, which Gwen Morris says, is still not a lot for people who live here in Canada, where we have so much, compared to those who live in third world countries.
When they started their worthy cause, she said, "the Drydens were determined that not one cent from donors would be used for administration."
Murray Dryden wrote three books: With God Nothing is Impossible, For the Love of His Children and his autobiography.
All proceeds from these works went towards SCAW. He also started three Christmas tree farms, the profits from which also go to the worthy cause.
To underscore how passionate Dryden felt about SCAW, he travelled extensively and spoke prolifically about his cause - up to as many as 30 speaking engagements in a single month, and some 257 presentations in one year (1990).
In 1988, Murray Dryden received the Kiwanis International Service Award of $10,000, which he promptly turned over to SCAW.
After devoting the last 34 years of his life to the cause, Murray Dryden died in 2004. He was 94. But for anyone who thought it impossible to give any more to any cause after one's death, the Drydens' family home was recently turned over to Sleeping Children Around the World.
After speaking at the Carbonear Library last week, Gwen Morris presented copies of Dryden's book, For the Love of His Children to the Carbonear and Harbour Grace public libraries. The books were donated in memory of her late husband, Frank Morris.
While most of the volunteers come from Ontario, donations come in from all over the country.
Sleeping Children Around the World is an organization not very well known in this province. Indeed most of those who attended last week's talk had never heard of it. But Gwen Morris feels so strongly about the organization and its work, she is willing to speak to church and community groups and do anything she can to help spread the word. "I think I've got some of the passion Murray Dryden had for it," she says.
