Thanksgiving Food Drive
Kiwanis (who meet on Thursdays) join Rotary at their Tuesday meeting and gather non-perishable food items for distribution to food pantries & shelters.
(Kiwanis Club of Augusta, Maine)
Gift Wrap Collection
The club gathers gift wrap to give to parents of children who receive donated presents. Then the parents are involved in the process. Gift wrap to be turned in in time to distribe to parents.
(Kiwanis Club of Augusta, Maine)
"Lose the Training Wheels"
This unique bicycle program is for children with special needs. For the benefit of children ages 8-18. This unique program called “Lose the Training Wheels,” uses specially designed, ultra-stable bicycles called “adapted roller trainer bikes” that enable children who have been previously unable to ride a bicycle to progress to conventional bicycles and become successful riders. The program is the brainchild of Dr. Richard Klein. Details on the West Hartford program for the 2006 summer and the application form are available at www.westhartford.org/losethetrainingwheels
(Kiwanis Club of West Hartford )
Kiwanis of Manchester Health/Dental Van
The Dental Van was purchased by the club. It is manned by the City Health Dept and local dental techs and Dentist who volunteer their services. The van travels within the city to provide care to children who otherwise would not receive much needed dental care.
(Kiwanis Club of Manchester, NH)
Manchester Police Athletic League MPAL
The Club provides $15K for 5 years to provide $ to maintain a facity for equipment and sports activities for inner city kids who would otherwise just hang out The local PD provides supervision with the help of volunteers. (Kiwanis Club of Manchester, NH)
Walk w/Child & Fish w/Child
Members take children to a local store to buy them clothing for the winter, perhaps the 1st new boots, or jacket they may have ever had, they they have goodies and are taken home with their new treasures. Fish with a child is held at a local pond, stocked by the club and the kids get appropriate weather outerwear, new fishing equipment that they take home along with what they catch. They are treated to a BBQ and escorted back home. Approx. 40 children participate in both events.
(Kiwanis Club of Manchester, NH)
Senior Picnic
Bar-B-Que held for senior citizens at the Haverhill Citizens' Center on the last Saturday in September. Held Annually for the past 41 years. Club members cook, serve, & provide entertainment for nearly 4 hours to approximately 300 Haverhill seniors with many coming from local nursing homes. (Kiwanis Club of Haverhill, MA)
Heart Gallery
We partnered with the Maine Dept. of Health & Human Services and the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce. DHHS contracts with an agency, A Family for ME, to recruit foster and adoptive families. A Family for ME has developed the Heart Gallery, which has appeared in towns across Maine. We chose the month of April. Each participating business agrees to host the profile of a child awaiting adoption. The profiles consist of professional photos, a short bio, and brochures with contact info. We engaged our Key Club in a phone-a-thon to businesses. AFFM also provided bulletin inserts for local churches. We obtained media coverage before, during, and after the event. For Oxford Hills, we had 150 businesses participating. We also invited AFFM to have a display booth at our bike rodeo. We will now plan to host an informational session for those families who indicated an interest. This event certainly raised awareness of the need for foster and adoptive families, and it generated a lot of conversation around town as the photos were reinforced as people shopped during the month. My wife Tammy & I have done foster care for 9 years with the goal of adopting. We now have a 12-year-old son in an adoptive placement. The Norway-Paris club challenges all other Maine clubs to partner with AFFM to run this high-impact, low-cost project in your communities. (Kiwanis Club of Norway-Paris, Maine)
Wheelchair donation
One of the local elementary schools had a need for a wheelchair. If a child's wheelchair breaks down at school, or if there is an injury at school, they're responsible to provide a chair. The chair they had was ancient with flat tires and lots of duct tape. It was an unsafe piece of equipment. When I found out about this, I contacted a medical equipment company owned by friends. They provided the chair at wholesale cost without charging shipping, and Kiwanis purchased the chair for the school. (Kiwanis Club of Norway-Paris, Maine)
Breakfast with Doctor Seuss
This is our "Read Around the World" project. Every year, we host a Saturday morning breakfast during "Read Around the World" week, held at the South Paris Fire Station. Breakfast for kids is free. We partner with a local literacy project, Right Start. There is a book swap - bring one, take one. Other books are provided for free. Dr. Seuss and other cartoon book characters come (Kiwanians and Key Clubbers in costume) to read to and with the kids. These characters even autograph books! We send flyers home with kids from the local schools to announce it. Breakfast has even included green eggs and ham! (Kiwanis Club of Norway-Paris, Maine)
This event has also run annually since 2003 in Beverly, Mass. Hundreds of adults and children attend with the focus on family fun provided by storybook characters and reading, as well as games, and a green eggs and ham breakfast. (Kiwanis Club of Bevelry, Mass.)
American Red Cross Heroe's Breakfast
This event is a Community Event run by the Red Cross that draws in hundreds of attendees from the business Community.Beverly Kiwanis gives an award to a local hero/heroine at this breakfast (Kiwanis Club of Beverly, Mass.)
Community Dinner
Every year the Beverly Kiwanis puts on a dinner at a local church at Thanksgiving and Easter to feed the homeless and disadvanteged families in the community. Kiwanians and their family members do the cooking, and the Key Club helps serve the meals. (Kiwanis Club of Beverly, Mass.)
