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| Ken and his SCAW team are welcomed to the Philippines. From Philippines 2008 |
February 6, 2009
CHRISTIE ZIMMER
A woven sleeping mat, a child's pillow and orange pillow case, a soft blanket and mosquito net, three sets of brightly coloured T-shirts and shorts, a pair of sandals, socks, a handkerchief, school supplies, a backpack, a raincoat, a towel and washcloth and a package of toothbrushes.
Last week, Hillsburgh resident and travelling volunteer Ken Graham pulled these items one by one from a large plastic bag printed with a heart and the words "gift of love," and laid them on the carpet in my living room.
As he told me about the rationale for each item's inclusion in the package, my youngest daughter, who is nearly two, bounced happily about the room, collecting the shorts and T-shirts and sorting them into piles while trying to hold the sandals on her tiny feet.
"Our priority order is something comfortable to sleep on, then clothing, then school," Graham said.
As I watched my daughter, I wondered if a child a world away might react in much the same way.
For his part, Graham need not wonder. In April, this grandfather of 10 will board a plane for the Philippines. It will be his seventeenth trip overseas for Sleeping Children Around the World, a unique charitable organization he has worked with since 1991. During his two-week stay in the Philippines, Graham and five fellow Canadians will distribute 6,000 bed kits similar to the one he showed me to children in need.
$35. That is the cost of one kit and Sleeping Children ensures that 100 per cent of every bed kit donation goes directly into that heart-printed plastic bag.
"It's what drew us in the first place," Graham said. "Every cent goes to the children."
How is this possible?
Travelling volunteers like Graham pay their own way, covering the expenses of their own airline tickets, accommodations, and ground transportation to distribution sites.
Operating costs, including the salary of the Sleeping Children's one employee, are paid by a trust established by the charity's founder, Murray Dryden of Toronto.
And the organization does not advertise. Instead it relies entirely on word of mouth communication about its work. It never solicits donations.
"You give from love," Graham said. "Not guilt."
Clearly, this strategy works.
This year, Sleeping Children will distribute its one millionth bed kit in one of the 33 countries it serves; countries in which the average household income amounts to a dollar or two a day.
"You and I can't imagine that," he said. "If a child can get a good night's sleep, he'll be able to have a good day at school the next day. And it's not just the child who benefits; it's the entire family."
And how does Graham feel about contributing his financial resources, in addition to his time and skills, to give a child a good night's sleep?
"If you had any idea how much I get out of it," he said, trailing off and taking a deep breath. "I don't begrudge one cent."
Christie Zimmer lives and writes in Guelph. Email her at christiezimmer@rogers.com.
