Club Spotlight

Issue 2

In This Issue:

Kiwanis One Day

Tradgedy Hits Kingwood & Lake Houston Clubs

West Houston’s First Fundraiser is a Winter Wonderland

Houston Sunrise Tailgates with Heroes

Houston Begins Young Professionals Group

3N Key Clubber Recieve SOTY

SLP Conventions Quickly Approaching

Lieutenant Governor Elections in March

Changes to Division Website

Kiwanis Clubs of the Greater Houston Area Anticipate Kiwanis One Day

Each year, Kiwanis clubs around the world join in a day of service. In 2011, Kiwanis One Day is April 2. It’s a global effort, but it’s made of personal commitments. After all, Kiwanis One Day consists of the involvement of Kiwanis club members around the world. It begins with your club’s participation. It extends to the impact you have on your community. And it results in an international spirit of service that inspires people worldwide. There will be no limit to what you can do—and no boundaries on your spirit of fellowship. In fact, your efforts will be echoed by clubs in communities all over the globe. This year Kiwanis Clubs of the Greater Houston Area will join together to unite in service projects benefiting Alex’s Lemonade Foundation. With nearly 3000 K-family members in the Houston area, there is potential to have more than 300 lemonade stands on One Day! What better way for Kiwanians to unite with Key Clubbers, Circle K members and Aktion Clubbers than to participate in a joint service project? I truly hope your club understands how great this opportunity is and is already planning to participate. We are gaining momentum as we enter into February. Kiwanis Clubs will need to 1) talk to their SLPs determine how they can work together (if applicable), 2) choose to hold many regular lemonade stands or a Grand Stand, and 3) figure out how many event you’ll have and their locations. After completing the first three steps, you’ll need to register your lemonade stand online at www.greaterhoustonkiwanis.org/kiwanis-one-day. This will ensure the division is notified about your events and can deliver materials to the Stand Leaders. A complete list of instructions is available online, here (and is attached to the back of this newsletter). Refer to these instructions to make planning your event easy and most importantly, successful!

In service,Heather Harrington

Club Spotlight

Tradgey Hits the Kingwood & Lake Houston Clubs, but All is Well Come Christmas MorningSubmitted by John Sheridan & Kim Maxey

Tragedy struck the first annual Kingwood and Lake Houston Kiwanis Ugly Sweater Christmas party! The event started out great with all the guests showing up in the tackiest, ugliest, out of date and some hard to look at Christmas apparel. Fellowship was being enjoyed and good tidings concerning the holiday season exchanged. The unofficial photographer was circulating like a hunter following a prey and when he and the subject were in the perfect position….tragedy! As he pushed the shutter, a loud crack was heard and all conversation stopped. Guests gathered around the photographer and with a tear in his eye, realized that his prize lens was cracked…..the sweater he so carefully tried to photograph was sooooo ugly it cracked the lens! After an appropriate amount of lament (10 seconds) the party proceeded with a good time had by all. Both Kiwanis Clubs found the joint party a great way to celebrate and plans are already underway for next year’s event. In addition to wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, each of the club members brought kitchen gadgets that were donated to Family Promise of Lake Houston, a local organization that helps homeless families, on Christmas Day. The Kiwanis Clubs partnered with the Strawbridge Methodist Church to prepare Christmas breakfast for the 3 families currently supported by Family Promise. Additional church members and friends were there to help the club prepare meal. The parents and children were so appreciative of all that the clubs did. The church members provided gifts for the children and the Kiwanis clubs were able to fill a Rubbermaid container of kitchen gadgets for each family. These items

will be required for them to start their new life in their own home soon. We certainly were blessed to take part in such a joyous event and look forward to doing again this Christmas. But next year, adjustments will be made so pictures can be taken and posted.

West Houston Club’s First Fundraiser is a Winter Wonderland Success!Submitted by Scarlet LeBlanc

Kiwanis Club of West Houston partnered with the Rotary Club in its First Fundraiser.What a great turnout from the community and participation from our club! We sold concessions of Pizza, Chick Filet Sandwiches, Sausage on a Stick, Hot Dogs, drinks and chips. This labor of love of community has added $500 to our Kiwanis account. It was a very successful & exciting opportunity! Winter Wonderland is slated to be an annual commitment to our community of West Houston. A special “thank you” to Tom Gaden with the Quillian Center, and Karen & Sherry, with Westchase, for providing such a great

Club Spotlight

opportunity to our club! The benefactors of Wonderland in Westchase were The House of Amos and WHAM (West Houston Assistance Ministry). House of Amos collected the food and WHAM collected the toys. These items were distributed at their facilities. WHAM indicated that they received nearly 500 new toys, and The House of Amos was also very pleased with the amount of food collected. A total of $1200 was collected at the gates, and these funds went to First Methodist Missions and will be earmarked to mission opportunities in West Houston.

Houston Sunrise Club Tailgates with HeroesSubmitted by Gwen Branch

On October 2, 2010, officially recognized by the City of Houston as “Tailgate with a Hero Day”, five members of the Kiwanis Houston Sunrise Club joined with other community volunteers to serve over 2,000 meals at the DeBakey Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston’s Medical Center. This is the second

year for the event, which was initially organized by members of Mission Bend United Methodist Church. Veterans and hospital staff enjoyed BBQ, fajitas, hamburgers, and hot dogs prepared by various cooking teams. Tables and TVs were set up in the parking lot, tailgate fashion, for people to watch the afternoon football games. People were encouraged to wear jerseys of their favorite team. In addition to the tailgating, over 500 meals were delivered to persons who were not able to come outside the hopsital’s facility. Sunrise Club members and family who participated included Tim Heinrich with his children Michelle and Philip, Melvin Myers, Lionel Sims, James Sparks, and David White.

Houston Club (Downtown) Begins Young Professionals Group & Announces Foundation Giving

The Kiwanis Club of Houston has started a Young Professionals (YP) group within their club. The group met on Thursday, January 13 at Taps House of Beer on Washington Avenue to have fun and engage in a short discussion about the goals of their new group. “The idea behind our YP group is to build fellowship and help recruit amongst younger professional members within our club,” says Nicholas Krohn, member. This will serve as a key strategy to the Houston club as they continue to recruit younger professionals to Kiwanis and diversify current membership. In addition, the Kiwanis Club of Houston’s Foundation recently announced that it has given grants totaling $19,350! Recipients of these grants will be invited to upcoming luncheons to express their thanks and to report on how the funds were utilized by their organizations.

Division Announcements

Division 3N Key Clubber Receives Sophomore of the Year Award

It was announced on Friday, January 21 that Cy-Falls High School student and Key Clubber, Aditi Luthra, is a winner of the 2011 Sophomore of the Year Award. Aditi was one of 20 winners of this Kiwanis Texas-Oklahoma Foundation scholarship, and upon acceptance into college she will receive an estimated $600 toward the cost of tuition. There were a total of 30 applicants from around the entire Texas-Oklahoma District, but there is no question that Aditi has truly earned this award. She writes in her essay, “I honestly would not know how or where to volunteer without Key Club as my inspiration...The club gives me inspiration to make a difference. In India, where I am from, there are not many organizations which let youth volunteer [but] Key Club has given me the chance to even give back to India through the many volunteer drives.” Cy-Falls High Schoo Key Club is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Cy-Fair. Congratulations Aditi!

Key Club and Circle K Conventions Are Quickly Approaching: Sponsors Encouraged to Attend

Circle K District ConventionMarch 4-6, 2011$180/person Registration by February 9

Key Club District ConventionApril 14-17, 2011$105/person Registration by March 1(Seniors who apply for scholarships must be present at DCON to be eligible! These scholarships can be found on www.tofoundation.org.)

Requests Spur Changes to Division Website (www.greaterhoustonkiwanis.org)

1. Request: A forum to exchange ideas, ask questions and learn from other leaders.

Change: An online discussion board is now available under Member Portal. Log in is required.

2. Request: An area to see all of the current SLPs in the Houston area.

Change: The list is available under Service Leadership on the Division website.

3. Request: Club status updates available online.

Change: Spreadsheets of the current Distinguished Club status and Step Up Achievement status are available online through the member portal. Log in is now required.

Lieutenant Governor Elections to Take Place in March 2011

Division elections for the 2011-2012 Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant Governor-Elect will take place during the next Division Council Meeting on March 30, 2011. If there is a leader in your club that you believe could make a difference in the Greater Houston Area, both within Kiwanis and within our communities, please nominate them by contacting Heather Harrington at kiwanis3ltg@gmail.com. As a Lieutenant Governor, you will sit on the board of the Texas-Oklahoma District along with nearly 40 other Kiwanis leaders and gain a true insight of Kiwanis beyong the club level. Lieutenant Governor training will take place May 20-22 at the DFW Airport Marriott in Irving, Texas.

WEgKonc GItob WAlatle H

What is KiwEach year, Kiwglobal effort, bKiwanis club mon your commno limit to whaclubs in comm

Greater Houn December 2o participate but tailor the e

What’s a GrAlthough mosarger event inhat participatet us know yo

How to PartStep 1:

Step 2:

Step 3: Step 4: Step 5:

Step 6:

Step 7:

Step 8: Step 9:

Step 10:

Cong

wanis One Dwanis clubs abut it’s made members aro

munity. And it at you can do

munities all ov

uston Area 2010, a survein. The generevents to thei

rand Stand?st K-Family clun their commue in One Dayou plan on ho

ticipate: 10 Talk to youran event togDecide whethe two. Determine tFor each evRegister eaThis must bSoon after rsite to commmore informyou should Have Standlink with othPromote theOn April 2, customer aAll the monpacket you

gratulations o

B

Day? around the woof personal cund the worldresults in an

o—and no bouver the globe.

K-Family Cey of K-Familyral consensusr own commu

? ubs will host runity that is my are encouraosting a grand

Steps to Ler sponsoring gether! ether your clu

the number ovent, elect/apach event onlibe done beforregistering, yomunicate with

mation about Areceive your

d Leaders coohers so they ce event(s) witKiwanis One ll of the wondey collected sreceived earl

n a successfuQues

Kiwanenefiting Ale

orld join in a dommitments.d. It begins wiinternational undaries on y

lubs Unite ty clubs was tas was that cluunities.

regular lemonmore like a min

ged to be as d stand when

emonade StKey Clubs, C

b(s) will host

of events to bepoint a Standne at www.gr

re you can recou will receiveh stand voluntALF’s cause aresource pac

ordinate peopcan stay updathin your comDay, make s

derful things ashould be senlier. Rememb

ul Kiwanis Onstions? Conta

nis One Dex’s Lemona

day of serviceAfter all, Kiw

ith your club’sspirit of servic

your spirit of fe

to Benefit Aaken to deter

ub wanted to p

nade stands, ni-carnival. Thcreative as thyou register y

tand SuccesCircle Ks, Aktio

regular lemo

e held, and thd Leader. reaterhoustonceive your rese a link for yoteers, determand other rescket via mail wple and suppliated on duties

mmunity! (The ure you’re as

about your clunt back to ALFber; do not se

ne Day! You’vact kiwanis3ltg

Day ade Stand

e. In 2011, Kiwwanis One Days participationce that inspireellowship. In f

Alex’s Lemormine the typeparticipate in

some clubs hhis is called ahey’d like (wityour event.

ss on Clubs and

nade stands,

heir locations.

nkiwanis.org/ksource packeour own home

mine fundraisinsources to mawithin 2 weekes for each e

s and progresdivision will t

sking for donaub – and encoF in the envend cash in the

ve just made ag@gmail.com

wanis One Day consists of n. It extends toes people wofact, your effo

onade Foune of One Day a division-wid

have shown ina “grand standthin legal limit

Kiwanis Club

grand stands

kiwanis-one-det in the mail. epage with ALng goals, etc. ake your standks of registerinevent. Share yss. try to do this oations only. Shourage memblope providede mail.

a difference inm.

ay is April 2. Ithe involvemeo the impact y

orldwide. Therorts will be ec

ndation (ALFevent clubs w

de supported

nterest in holdd.” Remembets) – just mak

bs to discuss

s, or a combin

day by March

LF. You can uYou will also

d successful.ng. your new hom

on a city-widehare with eve

bership in the d in the resou

n a child’s life

t’s a ent of you have re will be choed by

F) would like event,

ding a er, clubs

ke sure to

holding

nation of

1, 2011.

use this o find

Also,

mepage

e level.) ery

K-Family! rce

e!