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About Kiwanis
Kiwanis
International is a worldwide service organization of nearly
300,000 members in 46 Districts in 79 countries throughout
the world, which raises some 70 million dollars each year
to help youth. The Mo-Ark District, which encompasses members
in Missouri and Arkansas is a very strong District with nearly
9,000 members in its 27 Divisions. Here in Bridgeton, our
club has 48 members. Since its chartering in 1967, it has
raised nearly a million dollars to help the youth and senior
citizens of our community.
What separates Kiwanis from
other civic and service organizations is our sponsored youth
programs. We sponsor K-Kids at the elementary leval, Builders
Clubs at the middle school level, Key Clubs at the high school
level and Circle K Clubs at the college level. These are clubs
similar to Kiwanis in that they also focus on service to their
community, but are all sponsored by Kiwanis Clubs. Worldwide
there are nearly another 300,000 youth in Kiwanis-sponsored
clubs throughout the world. Here in Bridgeton, we have supported
the Pattonville Key Club since 1982 and K-Kids and Builders
Clubs at Holy Spirit and Bridgeway Elementary schoos since
2002..
Kiwanis clubs worldwide have raised over 75 million dollars
to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders that leaves victims
with goiter, mental retardation, and crippling diseases. Our
club is one of the leading clubs in the Mo-Ark District in
this project.
Some
Key Projects of Our Club
You may have heard about one
of our on-going projects we have been involved with for nearly
20 years now: our scholarship program for deserving high school
seniors. Started in 1982, each year we award scholarships
to between three and fifteen seniors from local high schools.
The amount varies from year to year and depends upon how successful
some of our fund raising efforts are. In each of the last
few years we have been able to award a total of between $3,000
and $7,000 each year for this program.
Another of our project we have supported is Camp Wyman, a
summer camp for disadvantaged children located in Eureka.
Since 1947, the Kiwanis Clubs in the greater St. Louis area
have supported this camp by providing funds for camperships,
built additions to the dining hall, built an Olympic-size
swimming pool, built new cabins, a pond for recreation as
well as to provide needed water in case of fire. Our club
has not only contributed to many of these worthy causes, but
has purchased three vans over the years which are required
to transport kids to some of their activities as well as bringing
some of the Camp activities to inner-city kids. Currently
Kiwanis clubs in the area raise between $125,000 and $150,000
each year to support summer activities of the Camp.
Some other projects our club
has been involved in during recent years are an annual Senior-Citizen
barbecue where we feed over 200 seniors and residents of nursing
homes from the Bridgeton community each summer. We also are
one of the major sponsors of the Community Helping Ministry,
a lay organization devoted to helping needy citizens and families
of the area. One of our activities to help in this regard
is to hold Food Drives which benefit the local food pantry.
We also hold an annual Civic Prayer Breakfast where we try
to bring the community together for a day of prayer.
And during the past couple years we
have helping support Room at the Inn, an immediate emergency
shelter for families who are homeless.
We also carry our programs
into area schools with Kiwanis youth programs such as K-Kids
in elementary schools, Builders Clubs in junior high and Key
Clubs at the high school level - all geared toward showing
our youth the importance of service to the community. In some
local schools we also encourage children to bring up their
grades and recognize kids through our Terrific Kids program.
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Membership
How Can You Be a Part of It?
You may think many of the
things listed above seem like a lot. Not when people get together.
The fun part of Kiwanis is getting together with other people
who are interested in making Bridgeton a better place to live
and work. The point here is, one person can do a little something.
Two people can do more than twice as much. Three people can
do what five or six working alone could accomplish. The fun
comes in the fellowship enjoyed from our weekly luncheons,
plus working together on projects. The luncheon starts each
Thursday promptly at noon and is over by 1:00 PM. Speakers
are arranged on topics of interest to the members. These luncheons
are held at the Bridgeton Community Center, 4201 Fee Fee Road.,
and as a guest, your first lunch is free. It's really
an opportunity to get together with other community leaders
for fellowship while enjoying a lunch, (which youˇ¦re going
to have anyway). What better way to give something back to
the community in which you work and/or live?
If you'd like more information...
If you'd like more information
about either Kiwanis or our club click on History, Club Information,
or Kiwanis Family Links, or call our Membership Chair, Dave
Corner, Office: 636-928-2265.
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