| |
| • How/Where/When did Kiwanis
begin? |
| • What is the Kiwanis motto? |
| • What does the name "Kiwanis" mean? |
| • How many Kiwanis clubs/members are there? |
| • What is a Kiwanian? |
| • Are women allowed to be Kiwanians? |
| • What
other organizations does Kiwanis sponsor worldwide? |
| • How much community service is done
by Kiwanis clubs around the world? |
| • What does Kiwanis do on an international
scale to serve the children of the world? |
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| How/Where/When did
Kiwanis begin? |
Top |
|
| The first Kiwanis club was organized in Detroit,
Michigan, USA, on January 21, 1915. A year later the Kiwanis
Club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was chartered, and Kiwanis
International grew rapidly into a leading service club in these
two
founding nations. In 1962, worldwide expansion was approved,
and today Kiwanis clubs are active in every part of the world. |
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|
| What is the Kiwanis Motto? |
|
| "Serving the Children of the
World" |
|
|
| What does the
name "Kiwanis" mean? |
Top |
|
| The name "Kiwanis" (pronounced "kaw-wa-nas")
was coined from an expression in an American Indian language
of the Detroit area, Nunc Kee-wanis, which means, "we trade" or "we
have a good time." |
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|
| How many Kiwanis clubs/members are there? |
|
| There are more than 8,400 Kiwanis clubs with nearly 280,000 members in 96 nations and geographic areas. |
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| What is a Kiwanian? |
Top |
|
| An active or retired
business and professional man or woman who is member of a Kiwanis
club. |
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|
| Are women allowed to be Kiwanians? |
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| Membership was opened to women in 1987. There
are now more than 51,000 women members, and one in seven club
presidents is a woman. |
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| What other organizations does Kiwanis sponsor? |
Top |
|
| Kiwanis International sponsors several service clubs for young people: Circle K International has 12,000 members on 500 university and college
campuses; Key Club International has 245,000 members in 4,700 high schools;
and Builders Clubs have been organized in 2,000 junior high and middle
schools. Other members of the Kiwanis family include K-Kids in elementary
schools, young European adults in Kiwanis Junior, and Aktion Club, which
involves persons with disabilities in community-service activities. |
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|
| How much community service is done by Kiwanis
clubs around the world? |
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| In one year, Kiwanis clubs sponsored 147,000 service
projects. To do so, Kiwanians raised and spent nearly $100 million
and contributed 6.2 million hours
of volunteer time. |
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|
| What does Kiwanis do on an international scale
to serve the children of the world? |
Top |
|
| Kiwanis' continuing
service emphasis is called "Young Children: Priority One," which
focuses on the special needs of children from prenatal development to
age five. In one year, projects conducted as part of the "Young Children:
Priority One" service emphasis involved $14.3 million and 1.3 million
volunteer hours. |
|
| In 1994, Kiwanis launched
its first Worldwide Service Project, a $75 million campaign in partnership
with UNICEF to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders by the year 2000.
Iodine deficiency is rare in areas where iodized salt is used, but in
other parts of the world, IDD is the leading cause of preventable mental
and physical retardation. As many as 1.5 billion people are at risk, especially
young children. The initial fundraising goal was surpassed in 2001. IDD
projects have now been funded in 95 nations. |
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