Key Clubs serve communities, classmates 

Key Clubs serve communities, classmates 

Jan 14, 2025 | General interest, Service Leadership Programs, Service projects | 0 comments

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded 41 Youth Opportunities Fund grants to outstanding Key Club projects in November. 

By Erin Chandler

This year, Key Club International is celebrating 100 years of making a difference in schools and communities around the world. The Kiwanis Children’s Fund established the Youth Opportunities Fund so that Key Club leaders can continue taking action for the next 100 years and beyond.  

In November, the Children’s Fund awarded Youth Opportunities Fund grants for 41 outstanding Key Club projects that serve kids with medical needs, unhoused families and more — including their own classmates. Of the top 11 projects — as determined by the Key Club International Board committee and Children’s Fund representatives — nine are ongoing projects that have been awarded grants in the past. In alphabetical order by club name, the top 11 are:    

Colors for Children’s 5K/1-Mile Run
Key Club of Auburn High School, Alabama, U.S.
Participants in the Colors for Children’s 5K/1-Mile Run are pelted with colored powder at every mile, making for a vibrant, festive fun run — and all for a good cause. In its first two years, this Auburn High School Key Club event has raised approximately US$13,000 to support research and improved facilities at Children’s Hospital of Alabama. Thanks to a Youth Opportunities Fund grant, the third annual race will be better than ever, with snacks, water stations, race day video and photo ops, and medals for the runners. 

“Key to Sweet Dreams” Bedtime Kits
Key Club of Boyd County, Kentucky, U.S.
The Boyd County High School Key Club knows that kids need a good night’s sleep to learn and grow. That’s why members founded and coordinate a project to provide 125-250 “bedtime kits” consisting of sheets, a comforter or blanket, a mattress cover, a pillow, a stuffed animal, a book, a night-light, an alarm clock and a mattress to children in need each year. They also pack a bag of hygiene products for the whole family, while Ashland Build-A-Bed provides a twin-size bedframe. The club works with four Key Clubs, four Kiwanis clubs, a Builders Club and an Aktion Club in the district to collect supplies for the bedtime kits, which have gone to kids in their own community as well as survivors of natural disasters in Kentucky and Tennessee. 

A Night to Remember: After Prom Party
Key Club of Chillicothe High School, Missouri, U.S.
The Chillicothe High School Key Club hosts a free, fun, safe and substance-free prom after-party to make sure fellow students get home safely on prom night. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will allow the club to hold this year’s party at Extreme Racing, where partygoers will enjoy go-kart racing, arcade games and paintball as an alternative to more risky behavior. 

Winter Blitz 2024
Key Club of Clackamas High School, Oregon, U.S.
In 2024, the Clackamas High School Key Club teamed up with the Key Club of Adrienne C. Nelson High School to raise a combined US$14,000 in a Winter Blitz fundraising drive. The total raised will be supplemented by a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant to purchase food, clothing, household items, hygiene products, children’s toys and holiday gifts for over 600 families in need. The club has been serving its community through this project for 26 years, and they hope to be able to meet even more families’ needs in the future. 

The Hope Festival 2025
Key Club of Eastlake High School, Washington, U.S.
A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help the Eastlake High School Key Club move its 2025 Hope Festival to a larger venue to accommodate the ever-expanding services it offers the club’s community. The Hope Festival provides free groceries, clothing, hygiene products, toys, haircuts, massages, vaccinations, health screenings and more to low-income and unhoused families. Members also offer fun activities for kids, and they partner with local organizations to connect people to essential services, including mental health and educational support, domestic violence assistance and help finding employment. The event allows young volunteers to develop their leadership and love of service while spreading hope throughout their community. 

Reading for Reason
Forest Hills Northern High School, Michigan, U.S.
The Forest Hills Northern High School Key Club consulted with librarians at the Cascade Library to set up a Reading for Reason program. Club members will read to children ages 4-11 at the library to help jumpstart their love of literacy — and every book will impart a meaningful message. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will allow the club to deepen the kids’ learning through creative, interactive activities and crafts. Then, at the end of the session, each child will be able to bring a book home with them. 

Essentials for Education
Key Club of Hagerty High School, Florida, U.S.
The Hagerty High School Key Club is planning two drives to collect and distribute school supplies such as notebooks, pencils and backpacks for students, as well as classroom supplies like dry-erase markers, tissues and paper for teachers. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will supplement the supplies the club gives to those in need. In the process, club members hope to raise awareness about educational inequality in their community’s schools. 

Eagles for Eagles
Key Club of Kennet High School, New Hampshire, U.S.
In 2022, a Kennet High School family support liaison reached out to the Key Club with a request to lend a helping hand to their own classmates. In their “Eagles for Eagles” project, the club raises funds for groceries, hygiene items and gas cards for approximately 30 Kennet High School students while maintaining their privacy. By alleviating the financial burden of these essential items, club members hope to increase their classmates’ attendance at school and work, academic engagement and self-esteem — and to allow the school’s support programs to focus on more long-term assistance. 

Life Skills Prom
Key Club of Kewanee High School, Illinois, U.S.
This year, a Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help 80 students with disabilities at Kewanee High School and five other area schools enjoy a circus-themed prom with dancing, catered food and new decorations. The Key Club hosts the prom in its school gym during the school day to make sure students in the Life Skills program, who may not be able to attend an off-site prom in the evening, don’t miss out on this special event. The students’ families also attend and take pictures. Everyone involved looks forward to the Life Skills Prom all year! 

Dance Marathon
Key Club of Lake Minneola High School, Florida, U.S.
The Lake Minneola High School Key Club has discovered a way to raise funds for kids in need and bring fun to the community at the same time — the Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon program. The club will hold fundraisers such as candygram sales throughout the year, culminating in a four-hour dance marathon. Proceeds from ticket sales, concessions and sponsorships will help to fund research and education, purchase medical equipment and enhance patients’ stays at Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.  

Project Wellness Pak
Key Club of Utica Academy for International Studies, Michigan, U.S.
The Utica Academy for International Studies will help fight rising homelessness in their community through Project Wellness Pak. Key Club members will package blankets and personal hygiene projects such as shampoo and conditioner, body wash, combs, hairbrushes, toothbrushes and toothpaste for people experiencing homelessness. They hope these Wellness Paks will increase health and quality of life for those sleeping outdoors, especially in adverse weather conditions. 

How to get involved 
Does your Key Club have a project idea that could benefit from a Youth Opportunities Fund grant? Learn more about the grant and how to apply on the Key Club website. If your club does not yet sponsor a Key Club, learn about the advantages of chartering one today on the Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs page.  

A warm Kiwanis welcome

A warm Kiwanis welcome

Jan 10, 2025 | General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

Kiwanians in Canada help refugees from Ukraine thrive in their new country.

By Julie Saetre

Kiwanians have a heart for service — and in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, that heart extends to helping families in need from over 7,700 kilometers away. 

In 2021, members of the Kiwanis Club of Barrie — including Helen Ellement and her sister, Cathy Locke — were deciding how to mark the club’s 100th anniversary. At a church service, Ellement and Locke learned that refugees from Ukraine would be traveling to Canada and needed places to stay. At the time, Locke had been preparing to sell her large home so she could purchase a smaller residence.  

“So of course we just looked at each other,” Ellement recalls, “and she said, ‘I know what I’m going to do.’” 

Locke offered to house some incoming refugees while they adjusted to living in a different country, learning a new language and finding employment. And Ellement thought of a way to celebrate the club’s centennial: spend CA$100,000 on service projects, a third of which would fund the refugees’ flights to Canada. 

The club’s donation paid for six families — a total of 33 people — to relocate. And once they arrived, Ellement, the current lieutenant governor of Kiwanis Division 8, and Locke, now the club’s president-elect, led efforts to help the families settle in. The sisters gathered necessities ranging from bedding to paper goods, made doctor appointments, located a service that would help determine grade placement levels for the school-age students, and even helped find jobs for some of the adults. 

“Pretty much anything you would do for your own kids, that’s what we’ve been doing for the Ukrainian families,” Ellement says. 

Generosity rewarded
Meanwhile, instead of selling her home, Locke invited the largest family group — two parents and 11 children and teens — to live in the residence. Locke relocated to what became a lower-level apartment, complete with separate access; the family moved into the remainder of the house. 

The families have not let this generosity go unrewarded.  

“They’ve worked at every function that Kiwanis does that we need help with,” Ellement says. “So they’ve helped us as much as we’ve helped them. They’ve been fabulous.” 

Now Ellement and Locke are writing letters of recommendation to help the families gain permanent residency in Canada. 

“They’ve all gotten jobs, and they’ve worked very hard. They’ve become members of their community,” says Ellement. “They feel like family, and they feel like we’re their family.” 

How has your club supported newcomers to your community? Let us know at shareyourstory@kiwanis.org. 

3 ways to refresh your signature project

3 ways to refresh your signature project

Jan 7, 2025 | General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

If your club’s service showcase is losing members’ interest, try these three ACE tools.

By Tony Knoderer

From playgrounds and parks to festivals and fundraisers, signature projects are what Kiwanis clubs are known for in their communities. In fact, Kiwanis International recognizes the best of them each year with the Signature Project Contest. 

But even the best signature projects can lose their impact. Maybe it’s just a matter of routine — a need to refresh what’s become too familiar for members. Or maybe it’s something more difficult to identify.

Your club’s signature project is its showcase to the community — so it’s important to make sure members care enough to make it impactful. If the project needs to regain member interest, some of Kiwanis International’s Achieving Club Excellence (ACE) tools can help: 

  • Evaluate your impact. Start with an accurate sense of the difference you’re making. With this tool, your club can make an honest and thorough assessment. 
  • Member survey. Sometimes you need to address a core issue: What makes the club experience valuable for members? Specific questions that explore their perceptions of the club’s impact — and what they’d like to start doing — provide insights that can be applied to your club’s most important project. 
  • Club vision. You can also take a look at the big picture: What does your club do, and why does it exist? This tool helps your club create a vision that guides leaders and members alike. And it includes instructions on conducting a group exercise, so everyone has a part in the process.

Don’t forget: All these resources can be found on the ACE tools webpage, which includes other common concerns clubs face — and pairs them with the tools that help address those issues.