Newsroom
Reading is rewarding
2006-07 President Nelson Tucker accepts Kiwanis International’s Gifts of Reading Award from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) chairman emerita Lynda Johnson Robb at RIF’s annual gala this past September in Washington, DC. “To be given the opportunity to discover how to read—and to love reading,” Nelson said, “is to have been given a gift of endless possibilities. Of a brighter future. Of limitless potential.”
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IDD project lowers mortality rate
Global deaths of children under the age of 5 have fallen below 10 million per year for the first time, according to UNICEF. In a September letter to Kiwanis International, Caryl M. Stern, CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF, cited Kiwanis’ fight against iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) as one of the key initiatives in achieving this children’s health triumph.
“We are extremely grateful for the historic role Kiwanis has played in saving and enhancing the lives of millions of children in the developing world,” Stern said in the US Fund news release.
Annual Club Gift sets record … again
This past year, the Kiwanis International Foundation’s Annual Club Gift campaign set a new record for dollars raised: US$798,165. That broke the previous year’s record of $737,390. The success of the Annual Club Gift campaign the past two years allows the International Foundation to increase the amount of support it provides at the club and district level.
The Annual Club Gift campaign is the Foundation’s primary source of unrestricted revenue and is utilized to fund disaster relief, district grants, matching scholarships, and project grants. Clubs are encouraged to make an Annual Club Gift to the International Foundation out of their service budgets.
How great is your club?
Kiwanis magazine is looking for clubs that excel in all of the following areas: consistent growth over the past 5 years, generous giving, effective service, and fellowship. If you know a club that qualifies, submit your nomination. Deadline for nominations is December 31, 2007.
Prepare for Read Around the World
Begin planning now for your club’s participation in Read Around the World. From February 1 through March 3, Kiwanis clubs worldwide are encouraged to stage at least one project that promotes literacy and encourages children to love reading.
Happy 93rd, Kiwanis!
January 21 marks Kiwanis International’s 93rd birthday.
The organization originated in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, as a business networking club but almost immediately changed its purpose to community service. Clubs celebrate the anniversary in a number of ways. Share your birthday party photos and stories online at Kiwanis In Action (www.kiwanis.org/kia/).
RIF Award Speech by 2006-07 Kiwanis International President Nelson Tucker
Thank you. It is an honor to be recognized in the company of Verizon, the Washington Post, and Anne Richardson. And it is an honor to accept, on behalf of Kiwanis International, the Gifts of Reading Award. Indeed, those who teach children to read, those who encourage children to love reading, and those who support programs, like RIF–those individuals, organizations, and corporations give a precious, priceless gift. You see, to be given the opportunity to discover how to read—and to love reading—is to have been given a gift of endless possibilities. Of a brighter future. Of limitless potential.
Children in Sandusky, Ohio, are given this gift when Kiwanians there promote RIF, volunteering to read with children and helping children choose a book for their very own.
Twice a month, Kiwanis members in Bexar, Texas, bring this gift to Bonham Elementary School, when they volunteer with RIF and encourage the students there to read to them. That Kiwanis members there have noticed the children’s impressive vocabularies is no accident.
And in Alabama, the Jean Dean RIF/Kiwanis program gives about 26,000 at-risk young children this gift, because of a major Kiwanis effort there to fund and support RIF.
And those examples just scratch the surface. It’s safe to say that Kiwanis, every day, supports RIF programs, providing funding, guest readers, and volunteers in communities across the nation.
Kiwanis understands the value of reading programs and especially the value RIF brings to communities. Through our own annual International program, Read Around the World, we encourage clubs from California to Calcutta to bring the joy of reading to children. During the month of February, you will find Kiwanis clubs everywhere supporting Read Around the World as they host story marathons, reading parties, book drives, and countless other activities all aimed at promoting literacy and encouraging children to love reading.
Kiwanis International’s motto is “Serving the Children of the World” and it is our goal to do no less than change the world, one child and one community at a time. And that’s why Kiwanis understands, just as RIF understands, that to teach a child to read—and moreover, to give a child the opportunity to love reading—is to give a precious, priceless gift. A gift of hope and the promise of endless possibilities. A gift that truly has the limitless potential to change the world.
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