It is my honor to be a member of the Kiwanis Club of Mecklenburg (Charlotte, NC.) Our chapter has been in service since 1952.

On Saturday, September 30 we will be holding our 20th Annual Fall Family Festival to benefit our children’s services programs.

Every month during the school year I look forward to my visits to local elementary schools as part of Kiwanis’s Terrific Kids’ Program.

Terrific Kid is a student recognition program, created by the Kiwanis Club, that promotes character development, self-esteem, and perseverance. Students work with their classroom teacher and establish goals to improve behavior, peer relationships, attendance, or schoolwork.

Service to children is a primary focus in Kiwanis. Clubs are encouraged to conduct a community survey each year to determine what unmet needs exist in their community. In some cases, clubs in a geographic region (a “Division” or “District”) may take on a project of shared interest, such as pediatric trauma, or children’s cancer.

Service may be provided directly (e.g. reading to children at the library or taking therapy dogs into seniors’ facilities) or through raising funds in the community to meet a community need (such as building a playground). Common fund-raising events include breakfast such as pancake feeds, peanut sales, or food concessions. Areas of service may include assistance to those living in poverty, projects that benefit children and youth, and services for the sick or elderly.

As a global project in coordination with UNICEF, members and clubs contributed more than $80 million toward the global elimination of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), the leading preventable cause of intellectual disability. Beginning in 2010 Kiwanis International once again joined with UNICEF to launch a new worldwide health initiative, dedicated to wiping out maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), which kills more than 50,000 babies and a significant number of women each year. The clubs are known for the “Kiwanis doll”. Kiwanis dolls are simple white fabric dolls which is distributed to children and allows the children to color them in to represent themselves or someone else.

In 2007, the charitable financial arm, Kiwanis International Foundation, was awarded the top rating by an independent evaluator.

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If you live in Charlotte, NC or vicinity, we cordially invite you to join us at our Fall Family Festival.

It will truly be fun for all ages and help the children of our communities. ~Scott Pacitti, Planet Improv, Inc., Founder and Executive Director.