Not knowing what to expect – we listened to the presentation
and boy were we surprised. Our Sales Rep, Ryan Walker came back wondering
how he or we could do more.
Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW)is a not for
profit organization that believes that all children deserve a peaceful nights
sleep. Started by Murray and Margaret Dryden (parents of the famous
hockey players).
After a long and successful career, the Dryden’s life
took an interesting turn. Murray had taken to travelling and had found
himself in India. After a long day of travel, he was looking for sleeping
accommodations for the night, and as he walked along the street, he found
himself tripping over something he didn’t even see. When he realized he
had fallen over a sleeping child in the street, it brought him back to the days
of the depression in Prairie country in Canada, where he himself had to do
without the comforts of a proper bed.It was his passion for change and the support of his wife that an idea brought forth to the YMCA in India would see the organization start to take shape and their first trip to an orphanage to distribute ‘slumber kits’. Their intention was that each child selected would receive a mattress, bedding items, some new clothes and some basic school supplies. They also insisted that each bed kit would be made or bought from items with in the area of distribution.
44 years later, SCAW has touched the hearts and hands of
over 1 million children throughout 34 countries. **
It has been 3 years since that breakfast; we have been going
every year and have personally purchased bedkits to send to the next
distribution trip. However, what Ryan decided next would touch so many others
lives. He decided to sponsor his sister to go on a distribution trip.
After many interviews and a long waiting list, it was confirmed that she would
be going to the Philippines this spring 2014.
Ryan mentioned
to me that his sister would be going on an
upcoming trip and asked if we (IPB) would be interested in
listening to her story and sponsoring her journey. As we talked a little
further, our team planned for a lunch time fundraiser, penny sale and raffle
prizes. IPBer’s are a very generous bunch of people and I was hoping
that they would see the greatness that this organization does around the world.
Friends and families were invited and we had a packed house!
We also invited another volunteer (Mike Foster) with SCAW to
come to IPB and talk about what the organization does around the world.
It was when Mike said that a family receiving a bedkit was as if they were
receiving gold - it dawned on me the impact of having these essential items in
ones life really means. In most of our homes, everyone has the warmth of
a soft and cozy bed, but for many in other countries only a few can afford this
luxury. Or that children cannot go to school unless they had a school
uniform, and the bedkits would include 2 sets of clothes (school uniform in
most cases). Most days I feel like it’s a fight to get my kids out the
door to go to school!
The words that were spoken touched so many of us, and our
chilli lunch was an overwhelming success. With just a few weeks to plan
and put on the event, everyone chipped in and pulled off a great day. It
was one of those days that made us go home and think WOW!
After the money had been counted IPBer’s raised whopping
$1065! I couldn’t have been more proud of our group. And what adds
to this is that Ingersoll Paper Box Co. Limited will be matching whatever was
raised. So in total we will be donating a total of
$2163. This means we will be able to buy 60 bedkits to send with Sandy.
As I was lying in my warm bed that night thinking of the
comments made by Mike, and Sandy it certainly put things into
perspective. There are some amazing people of out there doing amazing
things with their lives and because they are spreading their message, we in
Ingersoll will be affecting the lives of 60 families - Something to be proud of.
I feel that this is just the start of something greater we
will be doing in our future!
For more information on Sleeping Children Around the World,
or to make a donation, please visit their website www.scaw.org
