'Serving the Children of the World' through Kiwanis

A few years ago, a good friend of mine talked me into going with him to a Kiwanis Club meeting.  “Kiwanis – I thought that was a men’s organization?” was my reply.  He explained that originally it was a men’s organization – in fact, when it was founded in Detroit in 1915 by Allen Simpson Browne, it was called the Benevolent Order of Brothers.  A decision was later made to change the name to “Kiwanis,” an American Indian term meaning “We make ourselves known.”  The club’s founder agreed Kiwanis was an appropriate name, because he hoped the organization would provide better business opportunities for its members to make themselves known.

Somewhere over the years, the focus changed from being a business organization to becoming a community service group with a mission of “Serving the Children of the World.”  The club’s headquarters were moved from Detroit to Indianapolis, and Kiwanis spread throughout the United States and into other countries, becoming an international organization.  Eventually, women were welcomed into Kiwanis and have since become some of the most active members of the organization.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Appleseed at a Kiwanis activity.

My visit to a Kiwanis meeting grew into my becoming a member.  My membership grew into becoming a club secretary.  Within my first year of service, the club secretarial position grew into becoming a co-chair of the Indiana District Convention, responsible for planning, organizing and hosting the statewide convention in 2008; and from there I became a member of the District’s Public Relations Committee, traveling to Indianapolis to attend meetings to strategize on ways to promote Kiwanis.  In between leadership stints, I flipped hamburgers while working at a food booth at the 4-H Fair, sold barbecued duck sandwiches and buffalo jerky at the Johnny Appleseed Festival while dressed as Mrs. Appleseed, helped with a bike rodeo to teach bicycle safety tips to local children and encourage them to wear helmets while out and about on their bikes, and hosted a roller skating party for participants of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

I also took a tour of Riley Hospital for Children, one of the main beneficiaries of Kiwanis fundraising, and visited the mobile neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that Kiwanis funded and furnished to help safely transport medically-fragile children to the hospital.  I have organized and hosted Governor’s Dinners, helped found a new club, led meetings as Club President and organized fundraisers to benefit local charities.

Our most recent fundraising activity is the making and selling of chocolate-covered, peanut butter cream Easter eggs.  As a result of two weekend production lines, members of my club, the Northwest Summit City Kiwanis, will have made more than 1,000 chocolate egg halves this month to raise money for our newest venture, the sponsorship of the Fort Wayne area’s first-ever Aktion Club.

We are partnering with Easter Seals Arc of Northeast Indiana to organize this Aktion Club, which is a community service organization that is specially designed for those with special needs.  All members will be adults with disabilities, and they will elect officers, run their own meetings, and conduct their own fundraisers and community service activities, just like a regular Kiwanis Club.

The first organizational meeting will be April 6, and the club will be chartered as soon as a few dozen potential members are secured.  The Northwest Summit City Kiwanis will use the money raised through the Easter egg sales to fund the new club, providing free one-year memberships to all those interested in becoming a part of the Aktion Club. There is a lot of excitement building about this new club because adults with disabilities have limited opportunities for social interaction and community service.  It will be interesting to see how it all turns out, and I am excited by the possibilities.

In the meantime, I am selling packages of five peanut butter/chocolate egg halves for $5 each to raise the money needed to get this Aktion Club up and running.  Want to buy a pack and help a good cause?