Photo at right: Retired Peel District School Board principal Grant Clark was at Middlebury Public School on Wednesday to speak to students about Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), which donates bedkits to children in underdeveloped and developing countries. Photo by Ryan McCullough
Retired Peel District School Board principal Grant Clark was at Middlebury Public School on Wednesday morning to teach students about a charity close to his heart.
Clark, who worked at a number of Mississauga schools, was invited to speak to the kindergarten to Grade 5 students about Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), which donates bedkits to children in underdeveloped and developing countries. Each bedkit contains a mat, pillow, sheet, blanket, clothing, towel, school supplies and mosquito net, if needed.
The Erin Mills area school is already involved with the charity, but teachers wanted the students to learn even more about the organization.
Clark first heard about SCAW in 1983 while he was principal of Sawmill Valley Public School. In the years that followed, his involvement steadily increased until he himself travelled to South Africa to deliver the bedkits.
"We aren't just providing a bedkit to these children, we're providing jobs to the locals in each area we visit," said Clark, 65. "Everything in the kit is made within that community."
SCAW was founded in 1970 by Murray Dryden, who while on a trip in India tripped over a sleeping child in the streets. He realized that while he may not be able to end world hunger, he could provide a child with a good night's sleep.
To date, 1,750,000 bedkits have been delivered.
For more information, visit www.scaw.org.
