Kiwanis Club member Val Schweifler presents Lakeport School Librarian Michelle Figg with books for the school libraries. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Kiwanis Club of Lakeport continues to support local students through its donation of books to Lakeport Elementary School and Terrace Middle School Libraries but is also embarking on a new project.

The Kiwanis Club of Lakeport is teaming with Kiwanis International and UNICEF on a global campaign for children, “The Eliminate Project: protecting babies and mothers from Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus (MNT).”

Most American’s don’t think of tetanus as a deadly disease. When you step on a nail, you go in for a tetanus booster shot. Simple. Done. No problem.

However, it is not quite so simple for the tens of thousands of newborns and their mothers annually that die from maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT) and their families who suffer their loss. MNT is caused when tetanus spores (found in soil everywhere) come in contact with open cuts during childbirth. There is little hope of survival for infected newborns.

Lakeport Kiwanis Club President Jennifer Richardson. Courtesy photo.

But these deaths are completely preventable through the immunization of mothers to protect their unborn babies. The cost of these immunizations – three doses at only 60 cents each. While UNICEF has worked successfully for the last ten years to eliminate MNT in many countries, the disease is still a killer in 40 countries located in Africa, and Southern and Eastern Asia.

The Kiwanis Club of Lakeport, through Kiwanis International, is joining forces with UNICEF to bring this project to its culmination: the elimination of maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT), The Eliminate Project.

For more information about The Eliminate Project, go to www.TheEliminateProject.org

For more information about The Kiwanis Club of Lakeport, go to www.kiwanislakeport.org or visit one of our meetings at 7:00 a.m. every Wednesday morning at the Lakeport Senior Center.