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.

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, Lyle
Downs Ph: 314/739-9799