Kiwanis explained

(An unabridged version of a letter to the editor written by Bob Kress, lieutenant governor of the Ohio District’s Division 14 .)

To the editor:

Sometimes when I tell people I am a Kiwanian, they want to know if they can ride in the crazy car, or is that the same as the Rotary? Is it like the Elks or the Moose? What’s it all about? So I like to tell them this way:

K: It’s about kids. The primary focus of Kiwanis continues to be the children and young people. We’ve seen it in the challenge to eradicate iodine deficiency through the world, especially in Third World nations, and in the focus of pediatric trauma. At home, we see the many club programs aimed at literacy, student achievement, and parent education.

I: It’s about inviting others to be a part of Kiwanis. There are other people who are interested in working together to create a better corner of the world. These are people who don’t necessarily have the time but are willing to make the time to make a difference.

W: It’s about winning. Our participation in clubs’ plans and projects sets up a positive win-win for everyone … for the community, for the club, and for ourselves.

A: It’s about applying the Objects of Kiwanis, choosing the high road. And there’s nothing like the fellowship of Kiwanis friends and the pride and joy in setting and meeting—and even exceeding—project goals.

N: It’s about our neighborhoods. We are asked to see the needs created by social and political structures, ethnic and racial diversity, and the challenges of our changing world, and to address them in our club and among fellow Kiwanians, in the Kiwanis family, the community where we live, in the larger community surrounding us, and in the wide world, where we can still make a difference.

I: It’s about including other Kiwanis-family groups and community groups in our plans. We support their projects and, in turn, ask them for their support and participation.

S: It’s about sharing the fun and excitement of Kiwanis with the Kiwanis-family and our family and friends.

Our purpose at Division 14 (Bay Village, Fairfield Park, Lakewood, Metro West, North Olmsted, North Ridgeville, Olmsted Falls, Rocky River, Westlake, West Park), and, personally, is to support and encourage our clubs in their goals and programs. I am interested in their success.

The needs in our communities and the wider world are great, and often we are not sure if we can be effective in meeting them. My challenge to our clubs, spoken first by the Jewish philosopher Hillel, echoed by Robert Kennedy, and now a part of the Freedom Museum in Cincinnati, is: “If not you, then who? If not now, when.”