Students join Pampers campaign in Africa, on local scene
They call it double donations.
Students from Uniontown Area High School joined in a national campaign to eliminate tetanus in Africa and then further used their donations to help local residents.
Teacher Pam Howarth explained students from her childcare 2 and daycare classes decided last spring to participate in “One Pack=One Vaccine’ campaign, offered by Pampers diapers in conjunction with UNICEF. They decided to participate after Howarth and many of the students saw actress and new mother Salma Hayek promote the campaign on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.’
“She felt the need to do something as a new mom,’ said Howarth of Hayek’s involvement in the campaign to eradicate tetanus.
According to the Web site www.Oprah.com, tetanus is a disease that is caused by deadly bacteria that enters the body through open wounds.
“In developing countries with unsanitary conditions, tetanus is often transmitted during childbirth and infects both mother and child. The infection rages through the body like a powerful poison, and it leads to a swift, painful death in almost every case. These deaths can be prevented with a vaccine that costs just 5 cents per shot,’ the Web site explained.
Hayek is helping Pampers promote its “One Pack=One Vaccine program. The Web site noted each time someone purchases a pack of specially marked diapers, Pampers will donate one vaccination shot to UNICEF to fight tetanus in 12 countries.
The campaign works with UNICEF and is focusing on 12 countries in Africa.
The Uniontown students were impressed and decided to become involved.
“They came up with the idea of collecting cash at lunches,’ Howarth said. “They would go through the cafeteria and ask kids for extra change.’
The students made up special cannisters that included flyers with information on the campaign, noting that Pampers would donate five cents of the U.S. fund for UNICEF and provide one tetanus vaccine to a woman in one of the 12 African countries.
Howarth called results from the first week “fantastic’ and noted that one student gave the rest of change from a $10 bill after paying for his lunch to help the campaign. Others saw this and were also encouraged to give more.
“They collected $125 the first week on cafeteria change. The second week they collected $50,’ Howarth said.
“Then, the teachers donated cash and Pampers. That’s when it really started to take off.’
The students decided to make double donations from the project. They used the cash to purchase Pampers, thus helping the tetanus campaign. And then they donated the Pampers to local organizations, including the Nurse/Family Partnership and domestic relations office.
Pampers decided to continue its campaign to the end of August.
So, when school let out, the Soroptimists International of Fayette County became involved.
The Soroptimists, a service organization of women who participate in projects to help women and children, took over the campaign for the summer.
Howarth estimated the local campaign purchased and turned over between 40 and 50 packages of diapers.
“Pampers makes the donation to the tetanus shots, and we turned around and gave the diapers away. It just works,’ she said.
Howarth would like to see the campaign continue in the fall, collecting funds one week a month or every other month.
“We’d like to continue because the need in our area is great,’ Howarth said.
She believes the students also learned a lot from the project.
“They learned how generous their peers were,’ Howarth said. “How by explaining a little to someone, (news of the campaign) spread.’
She said people were impressed the students were not collecting for themselves but for the community. “I told my kids that you not only helped people in Africa,’ Howarth said, “but you helped at home.’
For more information on the project, call Howarth at Uniontown Area High School at 724-439-5000.