Core Values

See what $40 can buy!

Our guiding principles are at the very core of our organization.  We operate under this blanket of Core Values, which guides our direction and our mission, and keeps everyone on the same journey.

At Sleeping Children Around the World:

  • We believe that it is the basic right of every child to have a comfortable night's sleep.

  • 100% of all bedkit donations go directly to its contents.  No portion is used to pay for operating expenses.

  • We provide hope and joy and aim to preserve the dignity of each child we help.

  • We verify that each bedkit is received by a child in need.

  • All donations are examples of "free will" giving.  We will not undertake telemarketing, door to door appeals, mass mailings or use professional fundraisers to help our cause.

How it All Began

Margaret & Murray Dryden

Margaret & Murray Dryden

Murray and his wife Margaret believed in building community - locally and globally. During a retirement trip to Pakistan, Murray tripped over a child sleeping on the street.  He and Margaret recognized that they could support children like this by providing the child with the basic tools for a comfortable sleep. As a long-time member of international service clubs, Murray was able to engage a partner in Pune, India to work together to provide 50 children in a local orphanage with comfortable bedding.   When Murray returned to Canada and friends asked what he had been doing in India, he showed them the photos of the children with their new bedding. The friends offered that if he were to do this again, they would be interested in pitching in some of their money too, to get more bedkits to vulnerable children…

In 1970, Murray and Margaret formally created Sleeping Children Around the World as a registered Canadian Children’s Charity.

Today, over 1.9 million children have received bedkits from Sleeping Children Around the World.

Our Bedkits

Sleeping Children Around the World provides bedkits to children in need, 50% girls and 50% boys, between the ages of 6 and 12, regardless of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, colour, gender, or physical or mental disability.

Bedkits are manufactured or purchased overseas by our Overseas Volunteer Partners (OVPs) - local organizations and individuals - who use their knowledge and expertise to pick the best bedkit items for the children living in that area. Producing bedkits locally provides additional benefits such as employment for dozens of workers, virtually no transportation costs, and strengthened communities.

During distributions, our Travel Volunteers review the bedkits with children, their parents, and teachers, to ensure that the items chosen are the best fit possible for people in that region. This ensures that each year the bedkits are improved to best meet the current needs.

How We Do It

  1. People and organizations donate money for bedkits.

  2. SCAW wires funds to our OVP, often a Rotary or Kiwanis organization.

  3. A distribution usually includes 5,000-7,000 bedkits.

  4. The OVP contacts school and community leaders to select children who meet SCAW guidelines and can most benefit from receiving a bedkit.

  5. The OVP then source the bedkit items, including obtaining competitive quotes for the higher cost items in the kit.

    • This means that $40 goes further:

      • Able to buy more than we could in North America.

      • No cost in transporting bedkits.

      • Stimulates local cottage industry.

  6. When things are ready, our Travel Volunteers fly to the country to:

    • Review the bedkit items to ensure money was spent as expected and there is good value.

    • Work alongside our partners to support the distribution and ensure it follows SCAW standards.

    • Take pictures of the children who receive the kits (the only “advertising” we send out).  Pictures also provide audit evidence.

    • Have conversations with parents to ensure the kits contain what the children really need.

    • Bring back the comprehensive financial report that SCAW requires each OVP to complete, which is later reviewed in depth by our Finance Committee.

  7. On return, pictures are sent to donors, along with a trip report.

100% of bedkit donations go to contents, thanks to a Legacy that founder Murray Dryden set up, that pays operating expenses, as shown below:

Where We Go

In 2025, SCAW held distributions in the countries highlighted below:

Our Overseas Partners (OVPs)

Partners in the country of distribution are advocates for the children in their communities. They work to support children with the greatest needs, organize the manufacture of bedkits, select and package bedkit items, arrange the logistics of the distributions, and assemble detailed Distribution Evaluation and Financial Reports. Our global community is strengthened through the collaboration between our OVPs and our Sleeping Children Travel Volunteers.

The majority of OVPs are service clubs such as Rotary and other community-based organizations – locals who want to build a better future for children.

OVPs work for months to prepare for the bedkit distribution, devoting their time and personal resources. Without their volunteer commitment, Sleeping Children’s vision could not be realized.

Financial Statements

Informed Consent

Please know that SCAW takes its responsibility to the children seriously and procures informed consent prior to the sharing or publication of any photograph of a bedkit recipient or his/her family.