Kiwanis
History:
The first Kiwanis club was organized in Detroit, Michigan. The group
received a charter from the state of Michigan on January 21, 1915, and
this is regarded as the birth date of Kiwanis.
The first clubs were organized to promote the exchange of business
among the members. However, even before the Detroit club received its
state charter, the members were distributing Christmas baskets to the
poor. A lively debate ensued between those who supported community
service as the Kiwanis mission and those who supported the exchange of
business. By 1919, the service advocates won the debate.
Kiwanis became international with the organization of the Kiwanis
club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1916. Kiwanis limited its
membership to the United States and Canada until 1962, when worldwide
expansion was approved. Since then, Kiwanis has spread to all inhabited
continents of the globe.
Kiwanis was defined as “an organization for men” in the constitution
and adopted in 1924. In 1987, after several years of debate and growing
support, women’s membership received overwhelming approval.
Six Canadians have served as Kiwanis International President. The
first International President elected from outside the two founding
nations of the US and Canada was Ian Perdriau AM from Australia, who
served in 1994-95. Eyjólfur Sigurđsson of Iceland was the 1995-96
International President, and Juan F. Torres Jr., MD, of the Philippines,
was president in 2002-03.
St. Petersburg Kiwanis Club
History:
Analysts say that to understand
the child you first must look at the parent.
Our club is the sibling of the
first Kiwanis Club which was organized in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915. From
this beginning, Kiwanis International has ballooned to 8,241 clubs with more
than 600,000 Kiwanis family members in 96 countries.
As of September 30, 2006, the
total membership for Kiwanis International is 260,701. This represents an
increase of 11,413 members and 124 clubs over the baseline numbers
established the previous year, and is the first measurable progress towards
the International goal of 1 million members by the 100th
anniversary in 2015.
Our club is doing its share.
During 2006 we experienced more than a 20% increase in membership. We now
have more than 140 members making our club the largest civic club in St.
Petersburg.
Where did this funny name –
Kiwanis -- come from? Kiwanis came from a language used by Indians in the
Detroit area, Nunc Kee-wanis. This expression means “we trade,” or
“we have a good time.” In our club we do both.
Kiwanis International sponsors
several service clubs to help young people understand the importance of
being involved in their civic community. Circle K International is
active on university and college campuses while Key Club International
is in high schools. Builders Clubs are in junior high and middle
schools and K-Kids in elementary schools. Young European adults can
join Kiwanis Junior and Aktion Club is available to assist
people with disabilities in community service activities.
 Kiwanis’ continuing service
emphasis worldwide is called “Young Children: Priority One.” Our club has a
committee which focuses on the special needs of children from prenatal
development to age five in our community in support of the international
mission. In one year internationally, projects in support of young children
involved $14.3 million and 1.3 million volunteer hours.
 Now that you know where
International is coming from, let’s take a look at where we have been and
how our focus is young children in our community.
In 1922, a mere seven years
after the founding of the first club, the Kiwanis Club of St. Petersburg,
Florida, was chartered.
 Our first president was the
Rev. Dr. Kerrison Juniper. Originally from Norwich, England, the Rev. Dr.
Juniper and his family arrived at Ellis Island on December 20, 1918, aboard
the Megantic from Liverpool. The Juniper’s settled in Pinellas
County. He saw an opportunity to make a civic statement in a young town and
organized our Kiwanis Club.
 Initially the club provided
financial support to various local charities. Public schools and other
public facilities were provided with equipment. The club purchased lots
adjacent to Glenoak Elementary, equipped those lots with playground
equipment and donated the property to the Pinellas County School System.
This was our first attempt to directly help young children.
 Kids like to fish so the club
stocked several lakes within the city with fingerling large mouth black bass
and looked forward to the day these fish would add to the enjoyment of the
children in our community.
In 1935, with the blessings of
the city, the club organized a Christmas Tree lane on Second Avenue North on
the approach to the Pier. The club planted the trees and annually solicited
sponsorships from members and other local businesses. A contractor
decorated the trees. From early December until after New Years Day, the
trees were lit showing the spirit of the Holiday Season. This project
lasted until 1973. The lighting was suspended, however, during World War
II.
 During the war our charitable
emphasis was on providing recreational activities for the military personnel
who were stationed in St. Petersburg.
In 1937 our club purchased 27
acres of land on Lake Chautauqua in upper Pinellas County. A Kiwanis Youth
Camp was planned for construction, however it was decided that the Boy
Scouts could make better use of the land. In 1944 the land was deeded to
the West Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts and became part of Camp
Soule. For the next 30 years many of the structures at Camp Soule were
built by a contractor member of our club using many volunteer hours from
members to augment his employees.
In 1987, the Scouts acquired a
new wilderness facility known as Camp Sand Hill in Hernando County a few
miles east of Weeki Wachee. In 1987 a plot of land was left to the Gulf
Ridge Council and the West Central Florida Council. In 1989, one of the
campsites was dedicated to the memory of all the Kiwanis members who had
supported scouting with their time and talents.
In the late 1950’s a new
project was started with the local Salvation Army Corps. Advance publicity
asked the public to call a special telephone number if they had reusable
discards. On a designated Saturday our members manned Salvation Army trucks
to pick up and deliver many tons of repairable items to the Rehabilitation
Center. Our club was joined by several other clubs in our Division for this
project.
With the influence of Kiwanis
rapidly expanding both nationally and internationally, our club became the
sponsoring club for the Kiwanis Club of Boca Ciega, the Kiwanis Club of
Sunshine City, the Kiwanis Club of Northside St. Petersburg, and the Kiwanis
Club of Tyrone. Key Clubs were also organized at St. Petersburg High
School, Northeast High School, and Northside Christian High School.
In 1989, member Al Muter and
his wife, Ruth, created two trusts. One of the trusts was used to partially
fund college scholarships for high school seniors in need of financial
assistance.
Our club has a committee who
selects the recipients from applicants within Pinellas County. Annually one
student will receive a monetary grant for each of the four years of their
undergraduate studies. Depending on available funds, other students also
receive one year grants.
The trust has been set up so
that the principal will not be invaded. This way the trust fund will last
in perpetuity with only the income being used to support the students. Each
year as one college senior finishes receiving the fourth guaranteed payment,
a new college freshman is about to begin their Kiwanis-assisted education.
 The income from the second
trust comes back to the club annually and is used to support our efforts to
assist disadvantaged children.
In 1993 our club opened Kiwanis
Closet in conjunction with the YWCA to benefit and assist teenage
student-mothers. As part of their school curriculum, these young mothers
were brought by school bus to the YWCA facility to learn child-care and
parenting skills. They had the opportunity to earn “Kiwanis Dollars” which
they used to purchase clothing, diapers, bottles, car seats, strollers, and
other baby items which the club purchased from local merchants.
Club members volunteered to man
the biweekly opening of the closet. Partly as a result of the project, the
club was recognized as the Outstanding Civic Club of 1993 at the annual
Civic Salute luncheon sponsored by the Festival of States.
Since 1995 our Young Children:
Priority One committee has annually provided gifts to needy children at
Christmas.
The Foster Parents Association
provides the names of children to the club. Our members then purchase a
gift for each child.
 Help-A-Child receives a large
donation from the club and they purchase gifts which we wrap. The
Help-A-Child effort is coordinated by Bobbie Gilgosch, widow of member Al
Gilgosch.
In 1996-97 our club
participated in a Kiwanis division-wide project to erect playground
equipment for handicapped children at Tyrone elementary school.
From 1999-2003 the club joined
with the Junior League of St. Petersburg to conduct the “Back-to-School
Health Care Fair.” This annual event occurred just prior to the opening of
the public schools. This was an opportunity for parents to obtain the
obligatory physical exam and inoculations for their children. Local
physicians and nurses volunteered their time at this event. The parents
also had the opportunity to meet with various agencies that could assist
them and their children. The children were given a new backpack which was
filled with new school supplies and other useful items.
Our club assumed the
responsibility of gathering volunteers from the Kiwanis Clubs in our
division and from other community organizations. Our volunteers handled
registration, parking, and security for more than 2,500 school children,
their parents, and siblings.
On several occasions our club
has cooked and served dinner at the Ronald McDonald House for the benefit of
parents and siblings of patients in All Children’s hospital.
“A Gift For Teaching” is a
non-profit program which provides supplies which are not normally available
through the school system. These supplies consist primarily of paper,
pencils, rulers, etc., are provided to teachers from schools with large
percentages of children from low income families. The teachers then
distribute these supplies to students who need them. The sponsors needed
assistance to organize and clean their warehouse. Approximately 20 of our
members volunteered for this chore.
The H. James Fischer
Scholarship Fund honors a deceased past president. Members of our club, and
friends and associates in other organizations in which Jim served, donated
funds to our club in his memory. His former law firm conducted a charity
golf tournament and those funds were also sent to our club. A committee was
formed to decide where to best use these monies.
In 2005, the club decided to
partner with the Pinellas Education Foundation and its Doorways Scholarship
Program to provide -- with today’s dollars -- four year college tuition for
deserving children who are selected by the foundation.
The recipient is a student in
grades 4-9 and has been qualified by the Pinellas Education Foundation as
having the appropriate financial need. In order to receive the scholarship
the child agrees and promises to maintain a C or better average, remain drug
free and remain a good citizen who doesn’t get in trouble with the police.
To date the club has been able
to provide scholarships for 46 students. Many of these students would have
no hope of furthering their education after high school. Mentoring is also
a part of this program.
This is a busy club dedicated
to helping children in need. We help in a variety of ways but always with
the definition of Kiwanis, “we have a good time.”
As of November, 2006
Dick Koch |
