April 5, 2002
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
I am writing to you as a fellow Rotarian to seek your Club’s support for the 2002 Seattle International Children's Festival/Kids Without Borders Dental Care Caravan. From May 13-18, 2002, at Seattle Center, over 40,000 K-12 students from throughout Washington State and 2,000 teachers will see performances by a dozen artists from six continents of the world. Only one of a handful of international performing arts festivals for young audiences in North America, the Seattle International Children's Festival, celebrating its 16th anniversary this year, is one of the largest and oldest.
I have the privilege of serving on the Board of Trustees of this organization and am chairing an effort by students attending the event to bring dental care supplies – new toothbrushes and toothpaste – to be dropped into a collection box at Seattle Center. The collections will take place in a Discovery Zone where the students can design greetings to kids around the world who will receive these supplies. Kids Without Borders (KWB), a non-profit organization, will ship the supplies to selected orphanages or schools in the developing nations represented by performers at the Seattle International Children's Festival including Cuba, Congo, Vietnam, China, India, Korea, Ecuador, and the Philippines. Financial contributions will help us with the costs of shipping, and are tax-deductible.
I ask your help in making this event a huge success and one in which students can take great pride. I ask dentists, pharmacists, and other wholesalers or retailers in your club to make contributions of a case or two of toothbrushes or toothpaste. And each Rotarian can ask his/her own dentist for donations of dental care supplies. Both Kids without Borders and the Seattle International Children's Festival are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Combining our efforts with those of students, we will further the bonds of friendship and mutual respect with developing countries, as well as our “service above self” works with these countries.
I also ask that you help send the schools you support to the event if they are not already sending students. Tickets for school groups are only $7-$8 and are going fast. In addition to the Seattle Center dates and venue, the Festival takes to the road to Tacoma May 20-21, at the Pantages and Rialto Theaters. For school group information, call the Education Department at (206) 684-7336, or email education@ seattleinternational.org.
I look forward to a wonderful response from fellow Rotarians on the Dental Care Caravan project. I also look forward to seeing the smiles from Rotary-sponsored schools at the event. If you have questions, please call me at 206-484-4830 or email me at info@kidswithnoborders.org. Thank you again for helping to get the word out, and for your support!
Sincerely,
Son Michael Pham, Vice President
Rotary Club of the University District - Seattle
