Can’t find a service project? Just ask.

Can’t find a service project? Just ask.

Dec 21, 2023 | Club building, General interest | 1 comment

Instead of waiting for ideas to come to you, reach out to others who serve. 

By Thomas J. Jankowski, board member, Garden City Kiwanis Club, Michigan, U.S.

Have you looked in your own backyard for hands-on service projects? It’s probably the most overlooked opportunity for clubs!

Our Garden City Kiwanis Club in Michigan, U.S., has partnered with other service clubs, but we were lacking opportunities with other nonprofit charities. That is, until I had a discussion with Dan Layman, community liaison manager for The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan — one of the nonprofit vendors at the Kiwanis Michigan District’s Great Lake Conference.

As we talked, I asked if our club members could help with any hands-on projects. In fact, Layman said, we could. The foundation was about to arrange its annual holiday party for the children it serves. (The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan addresses the needs of patients and families in Michigan who are affected by blood cancer.) Could our club members inventory and package toys that were donated for the party?

Of course, our members said yes, and a number of us participated. While there, we were asked if we could volunteer at the party itself, so we supervised art and craft projects with children. It was all a very rewarding adventure. Later we were told that the organization could use our help with other events as well.

The Blood Cancer Foundation of Michigan is not located in Garden City, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is making a better life for the children it serves. So don’t limit yourself to helping only in your community — and don’t wait for a service project to come to you. Reach out. Chat with representatives of other organizations that help children and families. Talk with vendors at Kiwanis events and others. Your next service project could be one conversation away.

Kiwanis’ global impact in 2023

Kiwanis’ global impact in 2023

Dec 20, 2023 | Fundraising, News, Service Leadership Programs | 2 comments

Check out some of Kiwanis’ biggest moments this year.

By Sarah Moreland

Making a difference
Kiwanians all around the world did what we do best: helping others. Members in Barbados provided opportunities to play for kids of all abilities. Further north, Kiwanians in Pennsylvania, U.S., provided disaster relief for 45 people displaced by a fire. Canadian volunteers collaborated with Kiwanians in Iceland to distribute bicycle helmets to kids, and members across Europe have continued to provide relief supplies to Ukrainian refugees (pictured above).

Volunteers’ impact is seen in the lives of kids and communities everywhere. Brooke Moreland, whose family was homeless when she joined Key Club International, credits Key Club for giving her the skills and confidence to pursue her doctorate degree. And a Kiwanis meeting helped “Reggie” Regino save a life.

The best of the best
More than 400 clubs across 42 districts vied for one of the top spots in the 2023 Signature Service Project Contest. Impactful winning projects ranged from programs that empower single mothers to a free children’s health clinic to a reading hub created to eliminate the post-pandemic literacy gap. See the full list of winners.  

Enter the 2024 Signature Service Project Contest! The submission period is now open.

The power of community
We do more good together — and that’s why Kiwanis members joined members of Lions Clubs International, Optimist International and Rotary International to serve even more people, families and neighborhoods. See how Kiwanians from around the world — from India and Canada to the Cayman Islands and the United States — participated in the third annual Celebrate Community week this past September.

Supporting youth leaders
Seven outstanding Key Club International seniors and Circle K International members were recognized with Kiwanis Children’s Fund scholarships — out of an applicant field of more than 450 students. Meet each of this year’s deserving student leaders.

Applications for 2024 scholarships are now open! Encourage eligible Key Club and CKI students to apply by February 1.

A day to give
Our inaugural Kiwanis Day of Giving raised more than US$56,000 — exceeding our initial goal and impacting more than 25,000 kids! Thank you for your support!

Mark your calendars for Kiwanis Day of Giving 2024: On February 21, we aim to raise US$75,000 to reach 30,000 kids. Join us to help kids on this special day!

Helping where it’s needed most
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund helped the Kiwanis family reach more kids in 2023, with a record 183 grants and scholarships awarded throughout the year. The Children’s Fund also added a new opportunity with the introduction of the Microgrant Program. For clubs with 35 members or fewer, the program offers a chance to apply for grants of US$250-$1,000. Meanwhile, the Children’s Fund continued the Kiwanis family’s support for the fight against maternal and neonatal tetanus — with a US$275,000 grant to UNICEF in October.

A global celebration
More than 1,500 Kiwanis members from 49 districts celebrated another year of service to kids and communities at the 2023 Kiwanis International Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Hundreds of members also participated virtually. Kiwanians heard from inspirational speakers, elected Kiwanis’ new leaders and renewed their commitment to help even more kids in their communities.

Save the date! The 2024 Kiwanis International Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado, U.S., July 3-6.

And that’s not all! Our Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs saw successes too!

Key Club International
Our program for high school students continues to grow — with more than 220,000 members globally! Student leaders gathered in Anaheim, California, U.S., in July for the annual Key Club International convention, where they further improved their leadership skills, learned how to help others through Key Club’s service partners and elected the 2023-24 board, led by President Kyle Hanson of the Pacific Northwest District. Key Club members also continue to raise money for Start Strong: Zambia, a fundraising campaign with UNICEF to support early childhood education in the southeastern African nation.

Save the date: Key Club turns 100 in 2025! Ask your sponsored Key Club how you can help commemorate the historic milestone — or charter a new Key Club in honor of the anniversary.

Circle K International
CKI, our program for college and university students, held its 2023 convention in Minneapolis in tandem with the Kiwanis International convention. Delegates elected Zak Kahn of the New England District to serve as 2023-24 Circle K International president. Attendees participated in workshops about CKI projects and initiatives, including its newest: Brick x Brick, in partnership with UNICEF USA. CKI has, to date, raised more than US$72,000 for Brick x Brick, which supports sustainability, education and empowerment for families in the African nation of Côte d’Ivoire.

CKI will again join Kiwanis in Denver in July 2024 for its concurrent convention.

(2023-24 Circle K International President Zak Kahn and 2023-24 Key Club International President Kyle Hanson)

Here’s to more service, more smiles and more fun in 2024!

Grants help Kiwanians comfort hospitalized kids

Grants help Kiwanians comfort hospitalized kids

Dec 8, 2023 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund | 0 comments

Three Kiwanis clubs reached children in local hospitals, thanks to support from a Kiwanis Children’s Fund program. 

By Erin Chandler 

Through its Pediatric Medicine Support Grant Program, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded grants for three worthy Kiwanis club projects in 2023. With that financial support, clubs are helping to renovate an entire hospital wing, bring much-needed equipment to a new play therapy room and jumpstart a new service for kids and families experiencing medical emergencies.  

Each of these projects had a common starting point: club partnerships with hospital staff and administration. After discussions regarding what kids need when dealing with overwhelming situations, each project was tailored to improve kids’ physical, mental and emotional health. 

Collaboration and renovation
Bustamante Children’s Hospital is the only children’s hospital in Jamaica, serving tens of thousands of kids. When the Kiwanis Club of Toronto Caribbean, Ontario, Canada, reached out to ask how it could help, members learned about plans for a much-needed renovation of the burn unit and plastic surgery ward. They also learned there was no budget to get it done. With a pediatric medicine support grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund — and in collaboration with the Kiwanis Club of Capital City Kingston, Jamaica — the Toronto Caribbean club is helping to bring the ward up to medical standards and creating a safer and more welcoming environment for young patients.  

The renovation will include an aesthetic redesign, with new paint, curtains, artwork and greenery; an unused dressing room retrofitted as a separate area for outpatient procedures, to help reduce the risk of infection; and an upgraded dressing room for inpatients, with new equipment and supplies. Other additions include a designated area called The Reading Nook, which will be established and maintained by the Capital City Kingston club — and where local Builders Club and Key Club members will join the Kiwanians in reading to patients.

New hospital, new ways to serve kids
Like Bustamante Children’s Hospital, Trinity Hospital in the U.S. is vital to a large region. The hospital serves patients, including thousands of children, from 25 counties in North Dakota and Montana. The new Trinity Hospital facility, which opened in the spring of 2023, replaces its 100-year-old predecessor and boasts significant upgrades — thanks in part to the Kiwanis Club of Minot, North Dakota, and a pediatric medicine support grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund.

For the new pediatric unit’s play therapy room, the Minot Kiwanians funded the purchase of all equipment and helped set it up prior to the grand opening. In the new room, supervised play therapy will help young patients and their families feel less anxious during the often-stressful experience of hospitalization — and help doctors better gauge and even speed along young patients’ progress.

Bringing bedside comfort
The Kiwanis Club of Long Beach, California, U.S., also aims to make hospital patients and their families more comfortable. Working with MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach administration and Child Life Program staff, the club developed its bedside comfort bags project. 

A pediatric medicine support grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund is helping the Long Beach Kiwanians purchase items for infants, kids and adolescents. Each month, the club will enlist the help of Key Club and Circle K International members to stuff the items — including books, toys, crayons, coloring books, journals and socks — into 125 drawstring bags, which are brightly colored and Kiwanis-branded. They’ll deliver the bags to the hospital, where the items will ease the anxiety of pediatric patients and their siblings — about 1,500 children per year. The club will also create and restock a pantry for parents and caregivers, so that Child Life specialists and nurses can provide toiletries, notepads, puzzle books and pencils, and even loan phone chargers as needed. 

How do I apply for a Pediatric Medicine Support Grant?
Made possible by the generosity of the Kiwanis governors’ classes of 2005-06 and 2006-07, the Pediatric Medicine Support Grant Program provides a onetime grant for clubs to fund projects that specifically support local children’s medical centers. Grant money can be used to purchase products or supplies for patients’ hospital stays or to support a capital improvement project. 

Learn more and apply for a pediatric medicine support grant at kiwanis.org. For more information about the Kiwanis Children’s Fund, visit kiwanis.org/childrensfund.