The students of the Wareham High School Key Club have once again banded together to collect money to help prevent maternal and neonatal tetanus.

The club, just chartered last year, is conducting its second annual Trick-or-Treat to give money to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

“It’s all about protecting women and their newborns from disease,” Key Club advisor and JROTC senior Army instructor Matt Stanton said.

Within the next five years, Stanton said, the Wareham club, along with other Key Clubs internationally, hope to raise $3 million or more for UNICEF’s efforts. According to UNICEF’s literature, $1.80 can provide the vaccine that will prevent this disease in women and their newborns.

Since 2006, UNICEF and and Pampers have raised enough money to provide 300 million doses of the vaccine to more than 100 million women worldwide, according to a UNICEF brochure on the initiative. Though the town’s Key Club hasn’t been able to see any firsthand results, “it is widely known that vaccinations in these countries are sorely lacking.”

“I think it’s a very positive step for students to think internationally,” Stanton said. “It helps them reflect on what they have, and become global citizens.”

Stanton said the club has grown slightly since last year, up from a membership of 26 students to a membership of just over 30 students, and that the goal is to raise more than last year’s total of $200.

The Key Club will be collecting spare change in orange boxes until Nov. 1. For any questions or to donate, contact Matt Stanton at mstanton@wareham.k12.ma.us. For more information on the initiative itself, read UNICEF’s online brochure.