Kiwanis

McCook Kiwanis

As a member for the McCook Kiwanis club, I have to agree with Barb's letter to the editor, that is was a bit disconcerting to read of our demise that technically hadn't happened yet. Yes, it might be the inevitable truth but we should have had the opportunity to do our thank you's in our own way and wrap things up on our own time table.

The McCook Kiwanis club's mission - as that of the Kiwanis International - is that youth is Priority One.

In the relatively short amount of years I have been involved, there are several projects that our local club has sponsored.

Pediatric Trauma Kits - working with the local/area volunteer EMS units to make certain they had kits that fit the special needs of children.

Wendell Cheney Scholarship to MCC. - That was in honor of a longtime member, Wendell Cheney, who was a great supporter of MCC.

Student of the Week/Year program for local senior high school students. There have been and are some really good kids out there who work hard at their school and other activities. We have been privileged to hear their stories and meet many of their parents as well. We have been privileged to give them some additional recognition.

Sponsored the K-kids group at the Republican Valley (Indianola) Elementary. It was an elementary service club. Dedication to community service is something that anyone at any age can be involved in.

Working with the McCook Library and McCook Library Foundation to bring in authors for programs for kids in the area.

Yellow Ribbon information - putting information out to area youth that it is OK to ask people for help and that suicide is NOT the answer to problems. We provided videos to area high schools and cards with the toll-free hotline number for the kids to have with them.

As I am jotting this information down, I know I will leave something out that is near and dear to any number of our members, so please forgive that.

The McCook Kiwanis Club has a diverse membership and really encourages that. And I must admit, that without Kiwanis, I probably wouldn't have met these fine people. Many of who will always be my friends. I have learned from each of them. In addition we were able to do projects for the communities in the area.

For the remaining members, it has been a struggle to recruit in new members. Not everyone has a lunch hour that allowed them to go to meetings. Some folks were put off by the membership dues. And for others, our club wasn't their cup of tea so to speak. With every effective organization, there needs to be a spark plug or two to keep the engine running and unfortunately, our energizer bunnies moved or died.

I believe that all the current members will continue to do good works in the area even if it isn't under the Kiwanis banner. But it would have been nice to be able to make that announcement ourselves. The tribute was kind but just a bit too early.