Build enthusiasm for Builders

Some Builders Club items worth noting on your Kiwanis calendar:

•  Bake a cake, adorn it with candles, and celebrate: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the day in 1975 when the first Builders Club was chartered at Coles Junior High School in Ashland, Kentucky, providing further evidence Kiwanians take their motto, “We Build,” seriously. Since then, this service organization for middle school and junior high students has grown to include more than 2,000 clubs with more than 40,000 members worldwide.

“When a Kiwanis club sponsors a Builders Club, it is constructing a solid way to provide youth with service opportunities, help them develop their leadership potential and moral character, and instill in them a sense of loyalty to school and community,” notes Dave Wohler, manager of Sponsored Programs at the International Office. “The Builders Club anniversary is a milestone that should be celebrated.”

For more info on Builders Club, including how your club can charter one, click here.

•  Builders Clubs currently on “suspended” status for not submitting their 2004-05 membership fees will have their charters revoked if appropriate rosters and fees are not received by midnight, September 30, 2005. All Kiwanis clubs that sponsor Builders Clubs on suspended status have been notified via e-mail and regular mail asking them to assist in bringing their clubs up to date. Once a Builders Club charter is revoked, a US$100 fee is charged to reactivate it, plus a $3.50 per-member dues fee is required.

•  October is the Month of the Young Adolescent, a perfect time for Kiwanis clubs to promote the value of the Builders Club program in their communities. It’s also a great time for clubs not currently sponsoring a Builder Club to do so.

The (US) National Middle School Association (NMSA)—with Kiwanis as its new partner—is sponsoring the month as a way to make sure young adolescents do not grow up forgotten. By sponsoring a Builders Club, a Kiwanis club offers a service-learning program that builds character and cultivates leadership skills.

Read the August issue of KIWANIS magazine to learn more about the Month of the Young Adolescent, or click here to visit NMSA online.