I can vaguely remember trick-or-treating as a child. Even more vague, are my memories of seeing other kids with collection boxes for UNICEF. It was something my parents never encouraged me to bring out on Halloween night and I don’t recall ever asking what the boxes were for either. As a matter of fact, my boys are both now teenagers and I must confess that I never brought along UNICEF collection boxes when we went out trick-or-treating on Halloween night.
Did you know:
- Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is one of the longest-running youth volunteer initiatives in America. For 62 years, it has helped motivate kids to become active global citizens while teaching the fundamental value of helping others.
- Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF encourages kids of all ages to help raise funds for their peers in developing countries by going door-to-door on Halloween night or participating in other festive fundraising activities.
- Through Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, more than $167 million has been raised, providing children in 190 countries and territories with much-needed health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.
- In 1950, during the aftermath of World War II, the original Kids Helping Kids Campaign® launched as girls and boys across the nation collected coins to aid children still affected by the war. Today, the mission to save and improve children’s lives is more important than ever.
Now in their 62nd year, UNICEF returns this month for Halloween with fun new box designs to encourage creativity and individuality in kids. The designs include 6 fun characters like Patches the Pumpkin and Shadow the Black Cat. They even ran their first-ever contest that ended a few days ago where kids could enter their own creations for a chance to see their personal design on 1,000 collection boxes to share with friends and family. The UNICEF is really pretty simple. Their belief is that all children have the right to very basic needs and their is to provide those the poorest of children around the world.
This video explains it much better than I ever could:
Are your kids trick-or-treating for UNICEF this year? If a trick-or-treater holds out one of those special boxes will you drop in some money for kids in need? I hope you will at least think about it, especially when you consider how the smallest donation can go such a long way:
- 25 cents means 10 kids gets clean drinking water for a day
- $1.00 provides protein biscuits for a starving child
- $17.00 Keeps a child safe from 6 killer diseases
- $24.00 Provides an Emergency First Aid Kit
- $257 Buys a school-in-a-box so kids can learn anywhere
Regardless of much or how little you are able to donate, I hope that you will give. Happy Halloween!
If you would like to learn more about UNICEF and get to them on a social level, here are some links to get you started:
Disclosure: This post was written as part of my commitment as a member of the Global Team of 200, but this is a wonderful organization and all opinions are always my own.
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