Best Clubs in Kiwanis

I think the "best" Kiwanis club out there is a new club called the Fayetteville Metro Kiwanis club.  I think they are the best simply because their number one priority is SERVICE to the community and each of them genuinely WANT to give back.  Even though they are a new, young club, they have 31 people (and counting) that have the energy and willingness to do whatever it takes to serve the young people in the Fayetteville community.

<a href="http://www.suburbannorfolkkiwanis.org">Suburban Norfolk Kiwanis</a>

<a href="http://www.suburbannorfolkkiwanis.org">www.suburbannorfolkkiwanis.org</a>

The Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills, Moore County, NC, celebrates its 85th birthday on December 9, 2007, 170 members strong and growing. From its birth in 1922, club members have had community service front and center. Projects are designed for the entire life span, from babies to senior citizens, and all ages in between. We recently recognized our oldest member, with a 60-year Legion of Honor certificate and Past president's pin, still active and attends weekly meetings. His son-in-law will be our 200708 Club President.

A new member in our club wanted to visit a "successful club'.  I knew just the club to visit with him, which is the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland, WA,,sponsored by our club about 60 years ago.  They have around 100 members, provide a fantastic amount of service within their community and in our region, including Key Clubs and other service leadership programs.  They also have a great asssortment of fund raising activities in which a large percentage of the members participate.  WITH ALL THEIR SERVICE PROJECTS AND THE FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES, THEY HAVE A WONDERFUL GROUP SPIRIT THAT REALLY IS EVIDENT IN THEIR WEEKLY CLUB MEETINGS!  WITH EVERYTHING THEY DO, THEY APPEAR TO BE HAVING A GREAT DEAL OF FUN.  As we work on rebuilding our own club, Kirkland Kiwanis is a club that I would want us to emulate.

These are my top ten in no specific order.

Big Club  100+ members:  La Jolla, CA

    $85,000 given annually.  Major fund raiser is a community wide Pancake breakfast.

Little Club  under 20 memebers:  Desert Hot Springs, CA

    Helped open a substance abuse treatment center for people under the age of 18

Classic Club:  The Kiwanis Club of Hemet, CA

    Keeping it classic in the 21st Century with a pink haired, lady President.

Kiwanis Light:  Yucca Valley, CA

    Kiwanis members and their families meet twice a month.  Happy dollars are for grades and spelling bee tests.  Children are part of the meeting.

Meeting Place:  Eureka, CA.  

    SAMOA Cookhouse.  Great food and location.

Youth Services:  Palm Springs, CA

    Sponsor many different Key clubs, Builders clubs and K-kids.  Donations of thousands of books to children in their community.

Fund Raising:  El Centro Noon club, CA

    They do a Reverse Drawing and Bingo game.  The club has built parks, recreation areas and playgrounds around their community.

Inter-clubs:  29 Palms, CA

    They are a remote part of our division but they get around!  A couple thousand miles a year.

All Womens-club:  Glendora Kiwaniann's, CA

    Lots of energy and a great group of ladies.  Doing Good in the Neighborhood.

All Mens-club:  Hemet Valley, CA

    Traditional mens club with a serious team of community leaders.

Committee:  Pasadena, CA

    Rose Float Committee.  Very well organized and a fun activity to share with sponsored youth.

"Gilmer Kiwanis Club is the best club in the World "!

These words echo throughout our building during each meeting.   All thirty one  members are dedicated to one goal. Helping improve the lives of others in our county and around the world.  Children are our future and we do our best to service their needs.  

There are no best clubs in Kiwanis.   How can any one club be the best club?   How can that  be measured?   Answer: it can not..    All of the clubs which conduct well agendized, interesting, informative, FUN meetings, conduct service meaningful to both the community and the club membership, are recognized by their community and communicate with their members with a newsletter/bulletin especially BEFORE the next club meeting are BEST CLUBS unless they are not taking advantage of all of this by recruiting....

The Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville, Illinois, is everything a great club should be and more.  Its 22 standing committees administer incredible foundation giving to dozens of area concerns, conduct extensive and valuable service projects, help to educate and bolster the area's young people and provide rich, meaningful and FUN meetings and activities for its members on a weekly basis.  The recruiting plan is simple--get them in the door and everyone wants to join.  To paraphrase an old cliche, "Everyone wants to be a Kiwanian--after meeting thew Jacksonville Kiwanis Club.

http://www.jaxkiwanis.com

I agree with Roger in that the common denominator of "great Kiwanis Clubs" is a working committee structure, whether they have 22 or 1. Committees not only perform the functions listed by Roger, but they also provide a fertile training ground for servant leaders.

I would recommend the Oxford Kiwanis Club of Oxford, OH. This club serves in the same city of The  Miami University of Ohio. They recently sponsored the Special Olympics World Series of baseball.

This club is vibrant, sponors Key Clubs, K clubs, and serves as well as any club in our district of Ohio.

 Darrell E Stone

I have been a member of my club for over 20 years. I am now 60. Before Kiwanis I was in the Junior Chamber of Commerece (jc's)  I was aged out and found Kiwanis as the next step in my "giving back" life. I have been blessed with the JC's "Senatorship" and the Kiwanis "Hixon".  My experience has seen that the "best" club is the never in the "top spot", but the club that consisenately gives back to their community. They may not "grow" by leaps and bounds, but are that "steady, allways there" club. Take a look sometime at the long term record of some clubs: Did they grow by 25 in 2005, but by 2008 they are down 35. When they grew by 25, they were the envy of the rest of the state, but every one is silent when the lost 35. Just remember the old "tortise & hare"

Clubs that are great have some things in common. First perhaps is is a culture of growth. They fully understand they must recruit and retain members so as to provide a high level of service. Great clubs develop great leaders, maybe not all level 5 but in a Kiwanis contex, great never the less. These great leaders have seamless transistions from one administration to the next and take nearly as much pride in seeing their replacements succeed as themselves. Great clubs have fun and really enjoy their fellowship together. Great clubs have vision, they are able to antisipate needs in their communities before those needs become unmanagable.Great clubs are flexable and willing to change. Finially I believe great clubs are loyal, to their communities, to each other, to those they serve and most importantly to the Object of Kiwanis