The Westerville Kiwanis Club doesn’t let its small size prevent it from making a big impact.
Though its membership total is just 35, the club works on 40 projects and programs a year, the majority of them benefiting the community’s youth – the No. 1 goal of Kiwanis clubs worldwide.
“The club’s mission is to provide assistance to young people,” says Don Miller, president of the Westerville branch.
“It’s just good, solid people who want to do community service,” says Brian Swope, secretary and past president.
Established in 1961, the Westerville Kiwanis is one of several clubs comprising Division 10-E of the Ohio District of Kiwanis International, which has more than 600,000 members and 8,000 clubs in 96 countries.
In the spirit of its motto, “serving the children of the world,” the Westerville Kiwanis sponsors Key Clubs at all three Westerville high schools, awards three $1,200 scholarships to a student from each school and hosts the annual Academic Varsity Awards Banquet, which honors the top 10 academic students at the three high schools.
And this is only a fraction of the club’s influence.
Aside from its outreach to the three public high schools in Westerville, the club also serves middle and elementary schools in a variety of ways. It also maintains flowerbed and litter control of Westerville Road at the Interstate 270 interchange.
To raise money for these projects, the club hosts several fundraising events a year, the biggest of which are the pancake breakfast on the Saturday before Easter and the mulch and flower sale in May.
And coming in October is the annual pecan sale, which raised $1,200 in 2012. During October and November, the club sells Georgia pecans by the bag (12 oz.) for $9 or by the box (24 bags) for $216. Flavors include cinnamon, chocolate or regular, just in time for the holiday season.
The club’s weekly meetings at the Westerville Public Library are open to the public. Most feature a distinguished guest speaker, and every meeting is catered by the Westerville Grill.
“It’s a very warm and inviting group,” Swope says. “We love for anybody to see what we do and try to get them involved.”
And with annual membership dues of $160, getting involved doesn’t require much more than just volunteering, Miller says.
“We really welcome anybody into our club,” he says.
Eric Lagatta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Westerville Kiwanis Club
Meetings: 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays
Location: Westerville Public Library, 126 S. State St.
Website: www.westervillekiwanis.org
