Microgrants create meals, mentors and music

Microgrants create meals, mentors and music

Aug 14, 2024 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, Service projects | 0 comments

From April through June, smaller Kiwanis clubs made a big impact through the Kiwanis Children’s Fund.

By Erin Chandler

In April, May and June 2024, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded new rounds of microgrants to clubs making a big difference with fewer members — giving away books and personalized shelves to hold them; providing honey, fruits and vegetables to their communities; advocating for mental health, and more. Here are four projects that address kids’ needs in each of the Kiwanis cause areas: health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development.  

Health and nutrition

Raintree Children’s Services Oven Repair and New Vision Lunch Project
Sometimes, clubs can make the greatest impact by simply providing for the repair or replacement of essential appliances — and the Children’s Fund is happy to help. The Kiwanis Club of Third District, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., and the Kiwanis Club of Spalding-Christiana, Jamaica, each proved that with projects that received microgrants in June. For more than 10 years, members of the Kiwanis Club of Third District have cooked a monthly meal with the adolescent girls at Raintree Children’s group home. They even plan to make a cookbook together. However, they recently discovered that the temperature control in the home’s oven was broken. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant will help to repair the oven thermostats so that this enriching project can continue.  

Similarly, for four years, Kiwanis Club of Spalding-Christiana has gone all-out annually to prepare a healthy and delicious meal for the kids at New Vision Children’s Home, but the club recently learned that the door on the home’s deep freezer is faulty, requiring weights to keep it closed and maintain the temperature. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant will allow the club to donate a new freezer to the home so food can be safely stored throughout the year. 

Education and literacy

Musical Instruments for Elementary Schools
The Kiwanis Club of the Desert, Tucson in Arizona, U.S., began donating gently used musical instruments to elementary schools in 2022. Each year, they choose a different school to benefit from the project based on the number of students who participate in the free lunch program. To give kids whose families are struggling financially a fair chance at discovering and nurturing a passion for music, the club has partnered with the Kiwanian-owned Chicago Music Store to create an inventory of instruments that can be loaned out at each school. The store also offers discounts on cleaning kits and supplies. This year, with help from a Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant, the students at Butterfield Elementary School will tune up their own musical instrument library. 

Youth leadership development 

Safety Town
Every year, the Kiwanis Club of Springfield, Oregon, U.S., hosts Safety Town, a two-week course that teaches local 5-year-olds how to be safe around strangers, animals, water, railroads, earthquakes, fires — and especially on roads. The club sets up an eight-block town inside a local school gymnasium, complete with buildings, sidewalks and a floor mat depicting streets, crosswalks, traffic lights and signs. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant will help the club update the “town” with new pedal cars and materials to repair the buildings, as well as snacks and craft supplies. Safety Town’s life lessons are not limited to small children: Teenagers serve as mentors, helping the younger children learn — and some teens return after their first Safety Town experience to continue to help out.  

How you can help
To learn more about Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrants, visit kiwanis.org/microgrant-program.  

If you want to help the Children’s Fund provide grants like these that reach children around the world, you can make a gift to The Possibility Project. Your club can also apply for a grant to help kids in your community today.

Ways to deepen club connection

Ways to deepen club connection

Aug 8, 2024 | Club building, General interest, Leadership, Service projects | 0 comments

Increase club value for members by enriching the connection with them and their families. These tips can help.

By Tony Knoderer

If anything can deepen the satisfaction that comes from serving kids, it’s the fellowship you feel with the people who volunteer alongside you. Don’t be shy about that part of club value — recommend a few ways for your club to boost the feeling of belonging.

Want some ideas? Here a few small but popular things that other Kiwanis clubs do to deepen individuals’ sense of connection:

  • Have a member or two (perhaps retirees) volunteer to call fellow members on their respective birthdays. 
  • Set aside a day or two each year to contact former members — or those who haven’t been to a meeting or service project for a while. Let them know that they’re not forgotten — and you’d love to see them again. When appropriate or relevant, tell them they shouldn’t feel guilty about life challenges that have prevented them from being active. 
  • Design an e-card to send Kiwanis anniversary greetings to members to celebrate the day they joined the organization. 
  • Consider recording the names of your members’ children. Where age-appropriate, send them a thank-you card in appreciation of “loaning” their parents to participate in Kiwanis activities. 
  • Design a meeting agenda that appeals to members’ children — and invite them to attend a club meeting, where you can thank them for “sharing” their parents’ time and show them how all members help other kids in the community. 
  • Show your appreciation for nonmember spouses and partners as well. Establish a special meeting — or use a regularly scheduled one — and invite them to learn more about Kiwanis. Members can share testimonials about what the club means to them and to the kids and community they serve. 

Don’t forget: Kiwanis International offers resources to help keep club members engaged. Check out our Achieving Club Excellence tools —including the member survey, which you can download to evaluate how well the club is meeting member expectations. 

A $75,000 gift to celebrate 75 years of service 

A $75,000 gift to celebrate 75 years of service 

Aug 1, 2024 | General interest, News, Service projects | 0 comments

In California, a Kiwanis club marked its milestone with a major investment in the community. Here’s how members did it. 

By Julie Saetre

The Kiwanis Club of Roseville, California, U.S., commemorated its 75th anniversary this year, and club members wanted to celebrate in a big way — by giving back to the community. Their solution: giving a US$5,000 check to each of 15 community groups, for a total impact of $75,000. 

The common thread among the groups, says club member Roy Stearns, is consistent service to kids and the community. 

“Each of the organizations selected has ongoing contact with a populace they have been serving for years who are struggling with some hardship, be it food insecurity, medical conditions, schooling, clothing, homelessness, foster care, child abuse or other problems,” Stearns says. “The Kiwanis Club of Roseville feels strongly that these groups know their constituencies best and how to utilize added funding where it makes a difference.” 

The Roseville Kiwanis Club is relatively small, with 45 members in a community of 150,000. So how did they raise $75,000? 

“We have a cadre of very dedicated Kiwanians,” says Mike March, the club’s president-elect, “and we’ve developed a stable of ongoing fundraisers that keep the funding rolling in and the donations to children’s organizations rolling where needed. Our members are very proud of that.” 

Inspiration from Roseville
If your club would like to make a significant community donation to mark a future milestone — or for any reason — these Roseville Kiwanis Club fundraisers could inspire some new approaches: 

  • Sell sweet treats. Each year during the holiday season, Roseville members set up shop in a rented storefront and sell See’s Candies. In 2024, the club netted over $13,000 as a result. 
  • Get competitive. The annual June golf tournament brought in over $2,000. 
  • Be flexible. The club used to host a popular crab feed, but prices for the crustaceans have soared. So members pivoted to a catered taco festival, which raised an additional $2,000. 
  • Throw a party. In the nearby town of Rocklin, the Roseville club sponsors the Rocklin Community Festival each May. Fans flock in for carnival rides, a craft show and music. For thirsty adult attendees, the club partners with a local brewery for sales in a beer garden. “This four-day festival brought out our Kiwanians to the tune of more than 800 [volunteer] hours,” Stearns says, “and it netted more than $40,000.” 
  • Spark a celebration. Members sell fireworks for the U.S. holiday of Independence Day on July 4. In 2024, they brought in over $30,000. 

In addition, Stearns says, the club keeps a solid reserve of funds for families in need — in case of another unforeseen event like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ultimately, the key component to financial stability is member commitment. 

“Let me be clear,” Stearns says. “All of these fundraisers require that our Kiwanians step up to the plate and take their turn at whatever they are capable of doing. And they do that because they strongly believe in our mission.”