Updates on Service Fair at ICON 2009

Greetings everyone!

I want to let you know that there will be representation from each Service Partner during the Service Fair. In case you are all wondering, CKI has four Service Partners. They are Better World Books (BWB), March of Dimes (MOD), Students Team Up to Fight Hunger (STUFH), and UNICEF/Six Cents Initiative. Attendees will have a chance to meet with the Service Ambassabors to the Service Partners and learn more about how they can participate with each Service Partner.

This year's Service Fair theme is "Showcasing the Magic of Service".

More details will come out in the next several weeks so be on the look out on this blog or through e-mails sent out by International President Kristen Reed or any member of the Service Committee.

Are you hungry?

Hunger is a serious problem facing the world, and Circle K International wants to address it. Because of the current worldwide economic crisis, hunger has become even more prevalent. In an effort to put food in the hands of those who need it most, CKI’s partner, Students Team Up To Fight Hunger (STUFH), will be organizing end-of-year food drives at college campuses across the United States.

For the last two weeks of the school year, as students prepare to leave for the summer, STUFH will arrange for collection bins to be placed in dorm or residence halls on campus so students can donate unused food, rather than discard it.

Last year, the STUFH food drive received significant support from CKI clubs across the country during its end-of-college-year food drive, resulting in the collection of more than 1 million pounds of food at more than 70 colleges in 27 states. This year, CKI members can again help feed hungry men, women and children in their local communities by promoting STUFH.

Contact Dan Kahn and CKI Service Ambassador Michael Zebrowski for more information on how your CKI club can help and visit the STUFH Web site for more news and statistics.

Another end of the year project for you....

Looking for a simple end of the year project? Why not do a food drive. We all know that at the end of the semester, when we are all getting ready to leave campus we end up with a bunch of left over food. Well instead of students just throwing it out or having to cart it all home.... Collect if and donate it to a local food bank or shelter!

8 steps to holding an end-of-the-year food drive through STUFH

1. Obtain approval from your college or university to hold a food drive at the end of the semester.

2. Set up the time and date for the food bins to be brought by the food bank to the food drop-off point on your campus. Bins are usually placed in each dormitory. If this is not possible or your college is a commuter school, several other high traffic student areas may be used instead.

3. Publicize! Obtain flyers, posters, or any other informative material that will let the departing students know of your efforts to help feed the hungry in your local community.

4. Mark the food bins with information on what foodstuffs are acceptable for donation (i.e. nonperishable, unopened food items).

6. Set up the time and place for you local food bank to pick up the bins at the end of the food drive.

7. Obtain final results of the poundage of food items collected through your drive. Send these results, along with a thank you letter, to the college authorities who authorized your food drive.

8. If you need help locating your local food bank and the local food bank official who can act as a liaison to your club, contact Program Director Dan Kahn by email at dkahn@stufh.org.

Service Fair Theme announced for ICON 2009

Each year there is a theme associated with the Service Fair. Last weekend, the CKI Board of Representatives voted on the proposed Service Fair theme, "Showcasing the Magic of Service". Birmingham, Alabama, is known as the Magic City. Everyone approved the proposed theme. More information will come out within the next two months on how you can take part in this year's Service Fair theme.

BWB and You!

Looking for a simple project for the end of the semester? Well look no further! Partner with Better World Books for a book drive. Its super simple and but has a great impact!

Here are some tips for working with BWB:

1. Check out http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Info-Book-Drives-for-Better-Lives-m-2.aspx
2. Research the different literacy partners http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Info-Literacy-Partners-m-41.aspx
3. Contact your school and/or local college bookstores to set your book drive drop off stations
4. Contact Better World Books at reusefirst@betterworldbooks.com
   
5. Sign up to start receiving all book drive materials.
6. Advertise your book drive; Fliers, Chalking on sidewalks, Writing on the chalkboards in the classrooms, put an ad in your schools newspaper, Leave table tents, etc.
7. Check bins once a day to collect books already donated. If leaving bins outside, place a trash bag at the bottom of the box, so that books will not get ruin from weather or place rocks so that the box will not blow away from wind.
8. Store books either in a storage unit or your apartment. This provides security of all books.
9. Host a packing party. While sorting the boxes, having some kind of entertainment makes the process go faster.
10. Scan books to sort what books are acceptable, $1 per Per scanned book ($1.25 per acceptable book is only if the club collects more than 1,000 acceptable books).
11. Schedule a pickup wherever the boxes are located.
12. Celebrate! Checks are sent out to the clubs, bi-annually.
    

How did you spend Kiwanis One Day?

CHECK OUT THE INTERACTIVE KIWANIS ONE DAY MAP:

SUBMIT YOUR STORY AND BE FEATURED ONLINE:

http://www.kiwanisone.org/Pages/Resources/default.aspx?PageID=284


♥ WHAT'D YOU DO FOR KIWANIS ONE DAY? ♥

No, you didn’t miss anything. Kiwanis One Day is still April 4. But we want you to start thinking about it now.

Why?

Because KIWANIS magazine wants to hear about what your club did—and your story might be published in the magazine or online. We figured that if you know what we need before the event, you’ll be better prepared to gather everything needed to help us tell your story.

To be considered for publication, we need your information—fast. Send us a quick wrap-up of your Kiwanis One Day event by April 10. Please wait until after the event is finished so we get an accurate account.

Start planning now and your club’s story might be shared with the world! Send us:

* Your club name
* Location of project
* Kiwanis One Day project highlights (What did you do? Why’d you do it?)
* How many members took part
* How many Kiwanis-family members (Service Leadership Programs members) took part with you
* What time of day your event took place
* Photos. Photos must show your members in action—not posed—and must be large in size. For best quality, set your camera on its largest image setting.
* Video. Prefer digital format.

On Call for the Future

Starting today, April 1st, and lasting until July 31st this service initiative focuses on children’s health and safety issues.

In the United States alone, nearly 8,000 children are killed and at least 50,000 are permanently disabled by preventable injuries each year. These injuries lead to 360,000 hospitalizations and 10.4 million emergency room visits annually. The major unintentional injury risk areas are:

• traffic injury
  
• fire and burns
• drowning
• poisoning
• choking
• falls

April 1 through July 31 is an important time to schedule educational projects focused on keeping children safe during their summer vacation, when they will likely be playing outside and may injure themselves. This also is a great way to keep Circle K clubs and members active while attending summer classes or while home on break. The range of health and safety risks is varied:

• gang violence
• accidental poisonings
• poor eating habits
• malnutrition and disease due to neglect
• children not wearing safety belts
• malfunctioning smoke detectors in the home
• bicycling without a helmet
• unfingerprinted children who are difficult to trace if missing
  

Even though the school year is starting to wind down for some of you dont forget about the service.