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Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach

‘Child Seat’ Project

Some years ago, KCPB initiated a tangible project concerning the safety of our children in traffic up to age 4 by boosting awareness of using child seats and sponsoring these for the less fortunate in the society.

The initiative was sustained by an awareness campaign, launched picturing the possible scenarios when not using child seats.

Simultaneously, KCPB presented a letter to the minister of justice, pleading its case to his department to adapt the Aruban laws and make the use of a child seat in traffic for children up to and including age 5 MANDATORY.

Unfortunately, the justice department never picked up on these initiatives and the project slowly lost attention and its effectiveness in society.

However, during the past few months, we have worked very hard to re-ignite this project of utmost importance; we firmly believe in helping our less fortunate kids but more so in avoiding possible danger and grief by stressing safety in traffic.

On Thursday, July 2, KCPB re-launched the ‘Child Sear Project’ in the largest possible way in Aruba with all members of press present during an evening of sharing. We handed our 11 car seats to less fortunate families/ kids, which were selected by the ‘White Yellow Cross’. With an attractive re-design of the flyers, posters and banners, KCPB reached the entire population of Aruba through the press with presentations by the Police Department, sponsors and the ‘White Yellow Cross’. The message: ‘Help me get to my future, use a child seat’.

An impactful addition during the presentations was the story of a mother who had actually lost a child in a traffic accident a little over a year ago … she also volunteered to plead her case in the media over and over again. 

Too many people in Aruba still drive around with their children in the front seat, on their lap, not wearing seatbelts, let alone having them sit in a child seat. KCPB’s new awareness campaign strives to get everyone’s attention that children are our future and we need to protect them anywhere we go. A second letter to the appropriate authorities accompanies the campaign … we strive to change the law and make the use of a car seat for children up to age 5 mandatory in Aruba.

Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach is proud to announce the second hand-over of Child Seats in October of 2009; we will again invite 12 families to pick up their devices and involve the press to emphasize the importance of this project in the media.

On behalf of Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach, Aruba

Jurgen Benschop, Chairman Child Seat Committee

Patrick Melchiors, President Elect