Every year 60,000 innocent babies and a significant number of mothers die from a preventable disease, neonatal tetanus. Kiwanis International developed the Eliminate Project to solve this international crisis. The goal of Kiwanis International:
“To eliminate MNT from the Earth, more than 100 million mothers and their future babies must be immunized. This requires vaccines, syringes, safe storage, transportation, thousands of skilled staff and more. It will take US$110 million — and the dedicated work of UNICEF and every member of the Kiwanis family.”
In Mansfield, the local club began hosting a special fundraiser to contribute to this ambitious goal. The 5th Annual Kiwanis Lip Sync Stage Show was held at Ontario Middle School on November 9 to raise funds and awareness for this cause. To date the local chapter has saved 5,800 lives, but they plan to triple that number if they reach their goal.
According to club president Karen Hagerman, Saturday night saw the biggest crowd in the history of the event. “Kiwanis is about kids, we just hope this helps raise funds and get the word out,” said Hagerman.
Tickets to the event were $5 and the club also sold t-shirts and held a raffle to benefit the Eliminate Project. Already known for their pancake breakfasts, Mansfield’s Kiwanis chapter is seeing their unique event become a popular tradition.
While the disease is no laughing matter, the event was a good time. Twenty two acts performed a lip sync variety show that was fun for the whole family.
The official emcees were Jerod Them and Kelby King, however Ron Burgundy (as performed by Eric Parr) “crashed” the show and joined in the emcee activities.
The judging was provided by Rusty Cates, Bob Maxey, Gary Utt, and Mark Weidemyre. The judges handed out first through fourth place awards, as well as a “Big Lip” award.
The Fox Trio (Chloe, Dayton and Mama), was awarded fourth place with their rendition of What Does the Fox Say. The Daris Family (Chris, Hannah and Holden) performed a medley of favorites while both the male members of the family joined Hannah in wearing tutus for their third place performance. Richland Bank went all-out with a large cast, set and professional dancers for their Thriller performance that garnered them a second place award. Barb Crider’s simple, comical serenade and toaster drumming to the comedy song “Toast” brought in 1st place. The Daris Family also took home the Big Lip Award.
Kelby King, Kiwanis member and show creator/director said, “We got such a great response from the community. It doesn’t take much to save a life. We’re so grateful for all the support.”