An International service group may take root in Okotoks with its goal to put a smile on children’s faces and also provide its members a sense of fulfillment and camaraderie.
“I would say the main thing I enjoy about Kiwanis is the friendships that one develops,” said Bob Morrison, who has been a member of Calgary Northmount Kiwanis for 44 years. “These are friendships that get established on a different level – through a common interest in helping underprivileged children.”
Morrison, who has business dealings in Okotoks, is helping to establish a Kiwanis Club in the community. An information meeting is scheduled for May 25 at the Crescent Point Field House near Aldersyde.
Morrison already has some friends helping him out from the Okotoks area – Mark Anderson and Shannon Kleibrink.
Anderson, an Okotoks resident, was a member of the Northmount Club after joining some 25 years ago. His membership may have lapsed due to a move to Okotoks, but his love of Kiwanis did not.
“There are a lot of things about Kiwanis that I really missed, between the different projects and the social side of it, it was really good,” Anderson said. “So, when there was a chance to start a club in Okotoks, I thought it could go really well.”
The now established Okotokian played a role with Kiwanis in a project in which Calgary children, who may have gone without at Christmas, received a present and other goodies during the holiday season.
Another project of southern Alberta Kiwanis clubs includes Kamp Kiwanis near Bragg Creek. In 2016, more than 4,000 youths attended the camp and benefited from either its outdoor school, summer camp or leadership program.
It was Kiwanis’s commitment to children that was right on the button for Kleibrink.
“I really liked the opportunity to help underprivileged kids, especially the chance to experience camp when otherwise they might not have been able to,” Kleibrink said. “The project with helping kids with presents at Christmas was such a huge deal. I see with the downturn of the economy the needs for those two types of things in the coming years.”
Morrison said Kleibrink has already come up with some unique ideas to help raise funds for Kiwanis projects.
That’s an important part of Kiwanis.
“That’s one of the aspects I loved about Kiwanis,” Anderson said with a chuckle. “You get members and anyone can throw ideas out there – I am always coming up with weird ideas. We’re not restricted to saying this is the only way we can do stuff.”
Morrison agreed.
Kiwanis fund-raising projects are hands-on.
“It involves getting your hands dirty,” Morrison said. “Raising money by getting personal involved is so important to Kiwanis.”
Now Morrison and other Kiwanians are getting involved to bring a Kiwanis club to the Okotoks area. The proposed club will not be restricted to Okotoks area. Residents from the Okotoks area, including the MD of Foothills, Black Diamond-Turner Valley area and High River are invited to attend the meeting on May 25 at 7 p.m. to see if a Kiwanis Club in the community is viable.
Kiwanis is in more more than 75 countries around the world, with close to 600,000 members. Morrison said the service club contributes more than 18 million hours to strengthen communities and help children.
Anyone with any questions regarding a proposed Kiwanis Club in Okotoks can call Morrison at 403-861-4471.
