The numbers are in from the fiscal year that ended in October, and Kiwanians worldwide are proud to report that more than 85 cents from every dollar that was contributed or pledged this past year went to iodine deficiency disorders programs in nations at risk. Our Kiwanis Worldwide Service Project campaign costs were less than 15 percent. That includes the cost of developing and shipping materials and processing the generous contributions Kiwanians worked so hard to secure on behalf of the children of the world.

We are now in the fifth year of this great humanitarian project. Kiwanians invested much energy in the first couple of years to explain the project plan and how funds would be raised and managed. But time has passed. Many new members have joined the Massapequa club and clubs around the world since 1994, and many veteran members may have forgotten some of the details of the campaign plan that were presented several years ago. That's one of the reasons for the upcoming conference at the Nevele Grande Hotel at the end of this month. Members can't afford to take such knowledge for granted.

Whenever Kiwanians discuss our Worldwide Service Project, we try to briefly review the basic facts - not just the nature and harmful consequences of iodine deficiency disorders but also the procedures that govern our IDD fund raising and our partnership with UNICEF. We remind our neighbors that none of the funds we raise go to support UNICEF's administrative costs. After covering our own campaign costs, all Kiwanis IDD funds go directly to support approved IDD programs in specific nations where millions of children are waiting for our help.

A few weeks ago, Kiwanis International officers met in Indianapolis with UNICEF representatives to review the progress of the Worldwide Service Project to date and looked at the future. Perhaps the most pleasing news was the announcement that this year, Kiwanis IDD contributions have helped to spare eight million infants from lives of mental retardation. That's a two million increase from this past year.

Currently, IDD programs are protecting 14 million neonates from the risk of IDD each year. Significant increases in iodized salt consumption have been achieved in large, populous nations such as China, Bangladesh, Mexico, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and the Congo. This progress is attributable to the commitment of national governments to eliminate IDD, private sector collaboration in each nation, the work of other agencies such as the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development, and support of donors through UNICEF. Currently, Kiwanis International is far and away the biggest donor to UNICEF's IDD programs.

But the job is unfinished and challenges remain. Half of all households in the poorest countries with an IDD risk still do not consume iodized salt. While we are protecting 14 million neonates each year from the risk of IDD, 26 million neonates will be born at some risk of mental impairment. The challenges include ongoing quality control of the iodized salt that is now being produced and its equitable distribution to all populations; enforcement of the iodization legislation that has been adopted; rising prices of potassium iodate; and iodized salt trade in global markets.

Kiwanis Keynotes is an exclusive monthly column in the Massapequan Observer.