Sir Roger delivers urgent message about kids in Calgary, Nov. 8, 2003

"A white hat - does it make me a white knight?"Well, yes. It does if you're Sir Roger Moore and you spend your days jetting about the globe bringing health care, education and clean drinking water to children everywhere. © Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald

The former James Bond is in Calgary for tonight's Chefs for UNICEF gala at the Hyatt Regency. As a goodwill ambassador for the international children's relief agency, he will be the guest speaker at the sold-out event.

On Friday, he and his wife Kristina received the traditional white Smithbilt hat from Mayor Dave Bronconnier in recognition for all the work they have done for "women in need, children in need." "That's very nice, thank you very much," said Moore, suavely tipping his new topper with an elan only Agent 007 can display.

Then the 76-year-old star of such movies as Live and Let Die and Moonraker mugged for the cameras, pretending to gaze off at a distant horizon, counting imaginary cattle, joking around in a fake Texas twang.

"It's a phenomenal honour to have them in Calgary," said Holly Davidson, regional director for UNICEF Alberta, whose goal is "to raise awareness for the work that UNICEF does and with that, of course, to raise money."

It is Moore's first visit to Alberta, although he has visited Canada before on behalf of UNICEF, most recently in 1998. He said he had enjoyed his visit so far and added, "I'm glad to see UNICEF is so popular."

Indeed, the Chefs for UNICEF dinners in Calgary and Edmonton are two of the nation's biggest fundraisers for the charity. Since they began 10 years ago, they have raised more than $1.5 million and it's estimated they'll raise $350,000 this year.

"Calgary is just a particularly supportive community," said David Agnew, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. "The community pulling behind UNICEF is just marvellous."

UNICEF was created in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly to help children in postwar Europe. Over the years, it has changed its focus from emergency relief to long-term help for children worldwide.

This year's big campaign is called Go Girls! and focuses on education for girls, who account for 80 million of the 120 million children who do not have access to primary education.

Moore became involved with UNICEF in 1990 at the request of his friend, the late Audrey Hepburn, and in 1991 he became a goodwill ambassador. In October, he was knighted for his work with UNICEF. These days he works on dozens of different initiatives, especially the Kiwanis-led program to eliminate iodine-deficiency disorders.

"Today it's girl's education, but that doesn't mean everything else has stopped," Moore said.

Source: Calgary Herald, Joanne Sasvari - Visit UNICEF Canada, both in English and French