As published in the Barrie Advance & Innisfil Journal, February 28. 2011.
Just some further information on Donald Potter’s letter about Sleeping Children around the World (SCAW) – this very worthwhile charity was established by Murray Dryden, a 40-year member of Kiwanis.
Mr. Dryden, in his wisdom, established criteria whereby all donations went to fund bed kits. The preparation and distribution of the bed kits is handled by volunteer organizations rather than government agencies. Hence, many different service clubs and volunteer organizations around the world have contributed their time and money in meeting the needs of over one million children.
In 2010, Dave Dryden, who now heads SCAW, accepted the Kiwanis World Service medal at the Kiwanis International Convention in Las Vegas. He explained that all donated money goes to purchase and distribute bed kits.
This is possible because his father established a foundation (Pinehurst Club) to pay all administration costs of running the charity. This foundation is also volunteer run. I salute Mr. Potter and all the other Canadian volunteers who have paid their own expenses to go off to areas in the world such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to name a few.
These are people who are really making a difference in the world. I encourage everybody to visit the website at www.scaw.org and consider purchasing a bed kit.
John Hamilton
President – Kiwanis Club of Barrie
