What does Kiwanis do on an international scale to serve the children of the world?
Kiwanis’ continuing service emphasis is called “Young Children: Priority One,” which focuses on the special needs of children from prenatal development to age five. Projects conducted as part of the “Young Children: Priority One” service emphasis involved $14.3 million and 1.3 million volunteer hours. In 1994, Kiwanis launched its first Worldwide Service Project, a $75 million campaign in partnership with UNICEF to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders by the year 2000. Iodine deficiency is rare in areas where iodized salt is used, but in other parts of the world, IDD is the leading cause of preventable mental and physical retardation. As many as 1.5 billion people are at risk, especially young children.
