Eliminate Project to raise funds for tetanus vaccines
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Kiwanis Club of Elgin will be having an "Eliminate" fundraiser at the Elgin County Club, 2575 Weld Road in Elgin.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with hors d'oeuvres and a pasta buffet followed by a presentation by Dr. Tim Erickson who is the director for the Center for Global Health, at the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Medicine.
The Eliminate Project is a Kiwanis International effort in partnership with UNICEF to raise $110 million to eliminate maternal/neonatal tetanus from the world.
When this project began five years ago there were over 60,000 newborns and 40,000 mothers dying from tetanus because they did not have access to the tetanus vaccine. A vaccine that cost 60 cents per injection and required three injections to inoculate a mother and her newborn from a terribly painful and preventable death. Today, more than $100 million has been raised and there are only 20 countries remaining in which the tetanus vaccine is not widely available.
Erickson travels the world studying health issues, concerns, solutions, prevention and is world renown on this topic. At the conclusion of his presentation there will be time for questions and answers and an Eliminate Project update.
Cost for this evening event is $60 per person; these dollars, as well as all funds raised from the evening's silent auction, will go to the Eliminate Project.
For information or to make a reservation, contact any Elgin Kiwanis member, email rpoulton@prodigy.net or call (847) 977-4541.