December 2021
Club News & Announcements
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CLUBS FEATURED THIS MONTH: |
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- Fort Dodge
- Wahoo Area
- Miracle League
- Bellevue
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- Greater Missouri Valley
- Kearney Golden K
- Atlantic
- Creston
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Fort Dodge going strong at 101
Turning 101 certainly hasn’t slowed down the Fort Dodge Noon Kiwanis Club. In fact, there is a lot of new energy felt by its members.
Club President Linda Cline seriously pursued the Kiwanis International challenge to have service clubs work together, and the result was a Fort Dodge shopping spree that benefited six community food pantries.
Service Clubs United Shopping Spree Foodraiser was held at the Fort Dodge Fareway on Nov. 14. Six local service clubs united to help fight hunger in Fort Dodge. The event lasted 60 minutes with a total of $3,644.06 worth of groceries donated.
Six service clubs took part in the event and each shopped for a different food pantry. Fort Dodge Noon Sertoma shopped for Upper Des Moines Opportunity; Fort Dodge Noon Kiwanis for Fort Dodge School System; Fort Dodge Noon Rotary for the Salvation Army; Fort Dodge Morning Rotary for The Lotus Project; Fort Dodge Noon Lions for The Lord's Cupboard and Fort Dodge Evening Lions for Holy Trinity Food Pantry.
Each group shopped separately with a time limit of 7 minutes. Although everyone involved was a winner, the service club walking away with the traveling trophy was the Fort Dodge Noon Kiwanis!
Following the event, clubs met to have a social hour and discussed the day’s activities, next year’s event, membership and why they like helping others. The clubs feel energized and are excited to bring this event back next year.
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Coordinating a collaborative service project wasn’t the only activity on the Kiwanis club’s calendar, however.
Fort Dodge Noon Kiwanis presented dictionaries to the third graders of St. Edmond, Community Christian School, Manson NW Webster, St. Paul Lutheran School and SE Valley. Five teams of Kiwanians went out to the schools. Each team consisted of an experienced member who had presented before with a new Kiwanian. One of the new members was excited to present as a club member as she had been on the receiving end of the gift in past years.
Members had another reason to be excited too. The club was chartered May 14, 1920. But, a centennial celebration had to be put off last year because of the pandemic. So, the club celebrated its special anniversary this fall. Former member and Past International President Jane Erickson was the guest speaker. Also attending were current Governor Don Fritz and Immediate Past Governor Curt Reis.
Submitted by Linda Cline, Fort Dodge Kiwanis president
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Wahoo starts new literacy service project |
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A shared idea and a special donation created reading magic for some youth in Wahoo this fall. |
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Wahoo Area Kiwanis Club Member Denise Lawver, who also happens to be the town’s library director, saw in the magazine that another club did a literacy project during a school’s Scholastic book fair. Lawver not only pitched a similar idea to her own club’s board, but she also volunteered to head up the project. The plan was to partner with the Friends of the Library or another organization in order to purchase books at book fairs for students whose family may not have the extra spending dollars to do so. Lawver said no child should go to a book fair and leave without a book.
That was in 2020 and coordination with local schools began. But, the pandemic put a hold on book fairs and the club still needed to put together a plan for funding the project.
This October, Wahoo Elementary School held its Scholastic Book Fair and 118 sales were transacted with only a blue piece of paper that said “You are invited to choose any book of your choice for FREE. This book is being given to you as a special gift by the Wahoo Area Kiwanis Club.”
The kickoff of this new project for the Wahoo club was made possible by a generous donation of the family of Joe Carr, who was a charter member of the first Kiwanis club in Wahoo. (The current club is the third club in Wahoo and is noting its 20th anniversary this December).
When Joe passed away last year, his family offered his memorial money to the Wahoo Kiwanis club for a service project. Joe’s daughter, Caryl Johannsen, is a member of the Fremont Kiwanis Club and thought the Book Fair project was a great project to honor him. The $1,000 donation in memory of Joe Carr covered the vast majority of the “free” book costs and the club had no problem adding $200 to complete the project.
The school was very supportive of this project, and there have been many thank yous received from the students as well. This will not be a one-time project for the club. The goal is to partner with other community organizations for funding to not only continue at Wahoo Public Schools but to also expand to other schools in the community.
Submitted by Lisa Brichacek, Wahoo Area Kiwanis secretary
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League tree sparkles for this holiday and beyond
Members of the Kiwanis Miracle League board of directors were very pleased to learn that a Des Moines non-profit, Generations of Compassion, had selected the League to be its themed tree entry for the 2021 Blank Children's Hospital annual "Festival of Trees". This is an annual fundraising affair, many years having over 100 themed Christmas trees on display over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The League-themed tree is all about baseball, right down to baseball cards, popcorn, peanuts in the shell and Cracker Jacks. Following the Festival, the tree was re-located to Scheels at Jordan Creek Mall so that shoppers could enjoy the fun and beauty.
Following the holiday season, a Kiwanis Miracle League family will receive this beautiful tree.
Submitted by Jan Burch, Kiwanis Miracle League
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Bellevue looking for help with McDonald House project
The Kiwanis Club of Bellevue has taken on a project to provide 40 rocker recliners for the Ronald McDonald House in Omaha. That facility serves families from all over the country and internationally. In a presentation to our club recently, the executive director advised that when they developed the facility, they didn’t provide seating in the guest rooms. Rocking pediatric patients to sleep has a definite clinical benefit, so we want to provide rocker-recliners for each guest room.
The Bellevue club committed $4,000 and individual members committed to another five recliners. Southpointe Kiwanis in Lincoln, Gov Don Fritz and the Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha are also providing chairs. The club invites other clubs to join in completing this project. Each recliner, which the Ronald McDonald staff selected, costs $285 (including tax). The best is to make this happen before the chairs go off sale, so time is of the essence!
If your club would like to assist, please make your checks payable to the Kiwanis Club of Bellevue Fund and send them to treasurer, Kay Ontiveros, 2513 Charles Circle, Bellevue, NE 68123 with “rocker recliner project” in the memo line. Please let Bill O'Donnel know if your club will participate or if you have questions; you can reach him at billodonnell09@gmail.com or at these numbers – office 402-933-0866 or home 402-292-3387.
Submitted by Bill O'Donnell, Bellevue Kiwanis
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Greater Missouri Valley contributes to K9 unit |
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Officer Leo and his humans came to visit the Greater Missouri Valley Kiwanis Club on Dec. 1. His humans are Deputy Todd Denton and Sheriff Brandon Doiel. To say there was many people interested in meeting Leo is an understatement. Club members were able to hear first-hand the benefits of having a K9 unit, and the hours of training that go into this program are amazing. Fundraisers for assisting with the financial costs are in the works. The club donated $150 to help the cause as keeping the community safe for all is important! Club President Troy Buss presented the check and said “thanks for keeping us safe”.
Submitted by Minnie Fisher, Greater Missouri Valley Kiwanis
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Golden K reports recent activity
The Kearney Golden K Kiwanis Club sponsors the Key Club at Kearney Catholic High School. The club is pleased to report the Key Club is very active with service for school and community. The Key Club recently held a Soxtober event to benefit the local Salvation Army and it was very successful, as evidenced by the table full of collected items in the picture.
The Golden K Club also announced that Earl and JoAnn Rademacher were selected as Kiwanians of 2021 for their community involvement. The couple that has been married for 62 years was recently featured in the Kearney Hub. Read the newspaper story here.
Submitted by Lou Maxson, Kearney Golden K Kiwanis
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Atlantic club partners on several projects
The Atlantic Kiwanis Club has been practicing community partnership. Since the Atlantic Lions assisted club members with Kiwanis One Day at the Kiwanis Kiddie Korral at Sunnyside Park, members returned the favor and assisted the Lions Club with their annual Pancake Supper. The proceeds from the event went to a shared concern – the playground at Sunnyside Park!
The Atlantic Kiwanians are continuing their tradition of “Ringing Salvation Army Bells” each Saturday post-Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas at the local HyVee store. This got off to a great start on Nov. 27. Ninety percent of proceeds stay in the county, so members are pleased to be able to help.
Submitted by Janice Brown, Atlantic Kiwanis secretary
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Creston club wreath project finds success
Creston Kiwanis had another successful Holiday Wreath Fundraiser this November. Members sold two sizes of fresh wreaths, 24 inches and 30 inches, along with swags. This year, a total of over 120 wreaths/swags were sold with the club netting more than $1,500. The club received many compliments on the wreaths, which were delivered from Up North Greenery out of Wisconsin. Dennis Carter, a dedicated Creston Kiwanis Club member, is shown picking up his greenery on Nov. 22. Thanks to Korina Loudon with Creston Kiwanis for organizing this fundraiser.
Submitted by Kyle Wilson, Creston Kiwanis secretary
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Share what your club is doing!!!!
Clubs are invited to share their projects and happenings. Article and photo submissions are due by the 1st of every month to NIKiwanisDistrict@gmail.com.
This newsletter is also available to view and print on the District Website, Click Here
QUICK LINKS
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