High school students: spread the word and raise money to demine and help survivors

Teachers: offer students a chance to become global citizens and do community service.

High school students across the U.S. and in Canada are getting involved in the international struggle against anti-personnel landmines.  When students join That Landmine Thing, they spread the word and make a difference. The money they raise doing creative and fun projects funds Landmine Survivors Network and Adopt-A-Minefield to demine and help survivors rebuild their lives.

Landmine facts:

• There are over 110 million mines buried around the world
• The cost to remove these mines is estimated at around $33 billion
• Every hour of every day, somebody steps on a landmine
• Over 30% are women and children
• Only 10% of mine victims have access to proper medical care
• Buried landmines can remain active for over 50 years

Landmine Survivors Network, founded by two American landmine survivors, Ken Rutherford and Jerry White, links landmine victims to health care, job training and human rights awareness in mine-affected regions around the world.

Adopt-A-Minefield, created by the United Nations Association of the U.S., raises funds to clear minefields, provide assistance to survivors, and raise global awareness of the landmine crisis.

What you and your school can do to help:

Since 2001, more than 1,000 high schools have raised almost $200,000.

Students have conceived and organized a wide variety of friend-raising and fundraising activities:  benefit concerts, plays and talent shows; car washes; coin drives; landmine-activist guest speakers; raffles, silent auctions; walk-a-thons and sleep-a-thons; and bake sales to name a few.  Students do these projects under the guidance of a teacher.

Young people are spreading the word to friends, family and their communities about the landmine crisis worldwide.  Anti-personnel landmines are a subterranean terror that is man-made and can be dormant for years before being detonated by a man, woman or child.

Students in high schools across North America are standing up to help remove this heinous weapon from the ground, and to help mine victims who struggle to rebuild their lives.

Download “That Landmine Thing” and get involved today!

That Landmine Thing 2005-2006 edition PDF