|
March 2025
Club News & Announcements
| |
|
CLUBS FEATURED THIS MONTH: | |
|
- Mason City-River City
- Lincoln Capital City
- Polk City
- Nevada
| |  |
|
- Greater Missouri Valley
- Kearney, Dobytown Kearney
- Lincoln Cornhusker
- Vinton
| |
Mason City-River City busy with spaghetti, trailer | |
|
On Jan. 30, the Mason City-River City Kiwanis Club held its annual Spaghetti Dinner. Members started preparations the day before, cooking up 200 pounds of spaghetti, prepping to-go salads and dressings, packing cookies and preparing for the event.
The club members were joined by members of the five SLP clubs (Harding K-Kids, Lincoln Builders Club, John Adams Builders Club, Mason City High School Key Club and Mason City Alternative Key Club) and over 650 meals were served that night.
The club receives generous donations of food and passed that donation along to the local Community Kitchen and Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank in town. On top of the dinners served, 200 additional meals were donated to the Community Kitchen and 25 cases of Girl Scout Cookies were donated to the local Food Bank.
That's a Wrap!
The Mason City-River City Kiwanis Club has been working over the last couple of years to raise funds to purchase a trailer to help lessen the load on personal vehicles and provide a spot to transport items to their fundraisers. While being practical in transporting equipment from storage to projects and back, the club has worked with a local sign company to wrap the trailer as a rolling billboard for the club and Kiwanis. Club members can't wait to show this off around the community!
Submitted by Dana Thomas, Mason City-River City Kiwanis Club
| |
Joe James, Marilyn Scheinost, Al Vyhnalek and Dave Boeckner – all members of Capital City Kiwanis – present a $3,000 check to Randy Gordon, executive director of Lincoln Parks Foundation. | |
Dave Boeckner, Capital City member and Division 22 Lt Governor, Mason Kiem, Food Fort Fundraising Director, Michaela Akridge, Food Fort CEO, and Sandy Scheinost, Capital City member, take part in the recent $5,000 check presentation. | |
Lincoln Capital City helps fund local programs | |
|
In the month of February, the Capital City Kiwanis Club in Lincoln made a couple of major donations to local campaigns that serve children who need some extra help.
The Lincoln Food Fort is a local outreach program that takes a bus, and maybe a trailer too, every week to several elementary schools in under-resource neighborhoods in Lincoln. They provide meals, mentorship, and a variety of support to the kids they serve. Their mission revolves around the Food Fort Bus, but their current bus is old and no longer reliable and it will cost $40,000 or more to replace it. So, the Capital City Kiwanis Club and Foundation donated $5,000 to help them be able to replace their old bus and continue their services bringing their funds raised to $26,000!
The Lincoln Parks and Rec and the Lincoln Parks Foundation are fundraising to upgrade several big parks in Lincoln to “Inclusive Playgrounds”. The upgrades will allow children in wheelchairs or who have other disabilities to be able to enjoy all aspects of the park. They now have the funds and the approvals to start with Mahoney Park in northeast Lincoln this fall, thanks to all the Kiwanis Clubs of Lincoln and other donors. The Capital City Kiwanis Club participated in this campaign with a donation of $3,000 to be used for the playground area that will have a “Kiwanis Clubs of Lincoln” plaque.
Submitted by Sandy Scheinost, Lincoln Capital City Kiwanis Club publicity chair
| |
Polk City Kiwanis, Key Club help with rink | |
|
On a sunny Sunday in January, you could hear the skates clicking and see skaters gliding across the ice at Polk City's new ice skating rink in Kiwanis Park.
The Kiwanis Club of Polk City received a grant from the Nebraska-Iowa District Foundation District in January 2024 for the Polk City Friends of the Park ice skating rink project in Kiwanis Park. Not only did the Kiwanis Club contribute money but the North Polk Key Club also contributed. Finally, after a mild winter start, the rink is completed and young and old are enjoying themselves.
Submitted by Krista Bowersox, Polk City Kiwanis Club publicity chair
| |
Nevada Kiwanians hold bedding drive | |
|
Nevada Kiwanis held a Bedding Drive for the Ames Chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace, an organization that serves all of Story County. The club placed donation boxes in six businesses. The public donated 41 pillows, 49 sheet sets, 7 mattress pads, 10 blankets, four throws, three fitted sheets, three pillowcase sets, one comforter set, and a bag of handmade pillowcases.
The club also made its annual donation of bags of food for students in the Nevada Community School District. These bags will be sent home with students to ensure they have food to eat during Spring Break. Members are grateful to the local Fareway store for supporting this effort with discounts on the food items purchased and to Barilla for pasta and sauce. Kiwanians Jody Melcher, Gloria Lewis and Joe Melcher presented the groceries to Elizabeth Gindt, educator.
Submitted by Jody Melcher, Nevada Kiwanis Club secretary
| Greater Missouri Valley donates for NASA camp | |
The Greater Missouri Valley Club presented a check to the Missouri Valley High School Science and Math Club to assist in sponsoring the club's trips to NASA camp in Houston, Texas. The students competed there against others with outer space solutions, such as setting up colonies and making water.
Submitted by Minnie Fisher, Greater Missouri Valley Kiwanis Club secretary
| |
Kearney clubs cook up pancakes
The Kearney community demonstrated remarkable support for the Kearney and Dobytown Kearney Kiwanis clubs by attending their annual pancake feed in February, despite the challenging weather conditions. By purchasing tickets, attendees contributed to various community projects, including the Backpack program, Coats for Kids, 4-H robotics, and other child-focused initiatives. The event also showcased the Literacy Council book sale, the Jubilee Center’s popup store, and a Girl Scout cookie booth.
Submitted by Lou Maxson, Kearney Kiwanis Club
| Lincoln Cornhusker distributes diapers | |
The Lincoln-Cornhusker Club held its Annual Signature Project Holiday Diaper Distribution at the Peoples City Mission Outreach Center on Dec. 14, 2024.
The club and Lincoln Cornhusker Kiwanis Foundation, Inc. purchased 10,008 diapers as well as baby wipes for this project. In addition to these family necessities, we were able to provide over 400 story books for each child attending this event.
The process of beginning this project comes in the form of several vehicles/vans/pickups that receive the supplies from the Costco loading dock. Once the vehicles are loaded, they are driven to Aldersgate United Methodist Church, where each case/box/carton of supplies is unloaded and taken into a large staging area in the church where another group of 12 to 15 Club members and their family members begin bundling 20 diapers per package. Each package is labeled and organized according to size.
| |
On the morning of Dec. 14, a different group of club members and their family members set up the distribution tables at the Peoples City Mission Holiday Family Event so that the diapers, baby wipes and story books were ready to be given to all families that attended this event. At the end of this event, any diapers, baby wipes and books were left with the Peoples City Mission to help families through the winter months with these crucial supplies as the need arises.
This project "warms the heart" of club members each year. This project proves that a small number of people working together can really make a difference in their communities!
Submitted by Jeanne Krenk, Lincoln Cornhusker Kiwanis Club secretary
| |
Vinton delivers dictionaries | |
The Kiwanis Club of Vinton continued its mission of serving the community by delivering dictionaries to all third-grade students in the Vinton-Shellsburg School District. This annual tradition aims to spark curiosity and a love for learning in young minds while also introducing them to the importance of service and community involvement.
Kiwanis Club President Craig Ollinger and Member Lexa Speidel visited the classrooms, engaging students in an interactive discussion about the wealth of knowledge contained in the books. From learning about the longest word -an astonishing 1,909 letters - to discovering fun facts about U.S. Presidents, state birds, and even sign language, the students eagerly explored their new dictionaries.
The dictionaries are more than just a book of words; it's a tool that opens doors to new knowledge and possibilities. The Kiwanis members use the books to encourage students to be lifelong learners.
As part of their visit, the Kiwanis members also asked students about their experiences with Kiwanis supported events and projects in the community. Many children excitedly shared memories of playing at Kiwanis Park, attending the annual Easter Egg Hunt, cooling off at the splash pad, and enjoying the Parks and Rec Bicycle Rodeo, all initiatives supported by the club.
Through presenting the dictionaries to the children, the group shares the message that service is important and that even small acts can make a big difference.
As students excitedly flipped through their new dictionaries, one message rang clear: learning is a lifelong adventure and the Kiwanis Club is there to help them every step of the way.
Submitted by Vinton Kiwanis and reprinted with permission from Vinton Today
| | | | |
