The Greenwich Leadership Council LETTER WRITING CONTEST BECOME AN

The Greenwich Leadership Council LETTER WRITING CONTEST BECOME AN ADVOCATE FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD All high school students are invited to participate in this contest Write a letter to the new U.S. President and help to reduce global child mortality Letter Writing Contest in support of Global Child Survival Act 2008 (H.R. 2266, S. 1418) Fall 2008 Purpose: Think of this: Every year, almost 10 million children under the age of five die primarily from preventable and treatable diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and complications at birth. • The purpose of your individual letter is to persuade the next US President and elected representatives of the importance of the passage of the Global Child Survival Act. This bill seeks to restore the United States’ leadership role in the field of child and maternal health in the poorest countries by increasing funding to $ 1.6 billion for fiscal year 2011 and 2012. All letters will be sent to Washington, D.C. The more letters that are sent, the more of an impact this campaign will have. • Due Date: Letters should be submitted by October 17th, 2008 Addressees: • • • The new President-elect cc’d to CT Senator Christopher Dodd (sponsor of the Senate Bill) cc’d to CT Representative Christopher Shays (co-author of the House Bill) Length: No longer than 250 words Where to submit the letters: a) Follow your teacher’s instructions if participating as part of a school assignment b) If participating independently, please submit your letter to: Save the Children – Writing Contest P.O. Box 763 Greenwich, CT 0683 Criteria for selection of winning essays: • Understanding of the causes and scope of global child mortality. For example, the effects of malnutrition, infant care, necessity of immunization, the importance of clean drinking water, etc. Think and write as if the issues at stake have a personal and moral affect on you. Understanding the purpose of the bill. A clear statement explaining why the issues addressed in the Global Child Survival Act matter. i.e. the role of the United States in the potential reduction of child mortality Clarity Persuasiveness Originality Proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling • • • • • Selection panel: A panel of five judges will review all letters submitted and select the winning authors. Prizes for the author of the winning letter: • • • • Publication of the most impressive letter in the Greenwich Time Recognition from Save the Children at an award ceremony Letter of recognition from Representative Shays personally Cash prize of $ 250.00 Prizes for the additional four winning letters: • • • • Save the Children will recognize the authors at an award ceremony Authors will receive a letter of recognition and appreciation from Representative Shays personally Publication of the winning names in the Greenwich Time Cash prize of $ 150.00 each Additional prize for top freshman letter: • • Cash prize of $ 150.00 Special recognition from Save the Children Prizes for every participant: • • Every participant will receive a certificate of good citizenship from Save the Children The names of all participants will be published in the Greenwich Time FOLLOW THE FORMAT OF THE SAMPLE LETTER ON THE NEXT PAGE Your name School Grade Address Email address Phone number Date Office of the President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, RE: Letter in support of Global Child Survival Act 2008 (H.R.2266, S. 1418) (Your written letter of maximum 250 words here) Yours sincerely, Your signature cc: CT Representative Christopher Shays cc: CT Senator Christopher Dodd IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT GLOBAL CHILD MORTALITY • Nearly 10 million children under age 5 die each year, almost all in developing countries, from preventable and treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and measles In other words, 30,000 children under age 5 will die in the next 24 hours from preventable and treatable causes Nearly 4 million newborn babies die each year before they are one month old – the equivalent of all babies born in the US each year Around 2.5 million newborn deaths could be prevented annually by improving access to lowcost, low-tech interventions based particularly on education to pregnant women and mothers of newborn babies The international community’s “Child Survival Agenda” remains unfinished and in some cases hard-won successes in saving children’s lives are being reversed The United Nations’ goal to achieve a 2/3 reduction in child mortality by 2015 will not be reached unless newborn mortality is cut by at least half • • • • • For additional information visit the following websites: http://www.child-survival.org/advocacy/gcsa.cfm http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2007/frist-wash-times-op-ed-dec-07.html http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2007/survive-to-5.html http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/mch/ch/index.html http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2266 http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4271 http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=2895 http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/payne031308.htm