SHELBY, Ohio—There’s renewed interest in a Kiwanis club in Shelby and organizers want to share the story—and identify prospective members.
Organizers Nathan Crock, who is also a member of the Galion club; past Shelby president Ted Clabaugh, District Governor Diana Keplinger, Div. II Lt. Gov. Rich Ulmes and Lt. Gov. Brian Moore of Lexington are actively meeting community members to encourage interest and they will attend tonight’s Shelby City Council meeting to further their goal.
Ulmes is from Troy, Ohio and his role for Kiwanis is to help form new clubs, providing guidance and support. He explained that groups can choose how often they meet and the time of day that works best for the most people.
Shelby had a Kiwanis club that disbanded in 2012. “At my time most of the people who were in the club had jobs and could only meet in the evening.” Clabaugh said.
Keplinger stated, “We have less interest in meals and more focus on focus on service. That’s the good news. We can design the club to suit people’s needs.”
“We also have programs for children who are in school,” added Crock. He explained that there’s Key Club for high school students, Buddies for middle school students, K Club for elementary students, Circle K for college students and Aktion for adults with disabilities. Student clubs have to be sponsored.
“The students get to decide where their money goes. They are doing for others and kids can be amazing,” Keplinger said.
“You touch people’s lives in this organization. It’s a wonderful organization; I can’t say enough about it. We need to have people who are interested in service and willing to help raise money to do service,” she added.
One of the former Shelby club’s big projects was selling Christmas trees.
“We sold 700-800 Christmas trees at an average cost of $35 a tree,” said past president Ted Claboaugh. Holding fundraisers provides Kiwanis clubs with funds to perform their chosen service projects.
Kiwanis is described as a club with a mission to find new ways to get to know people in the community, to connect with others—and get involved in projects that change lives.
“What a difference a century makes,” notes information on their website. “In 1915, Kiwanis began as a single Detroit club. But over the last 100 years, it’s grown into a premier international service organization. Today Kiwanis and Kiwanis-affiliated groups, such as Key Club, CKI and Aktion Club, donate more than 18 million hours of service each year and raise more than $100 million in charitable funds annually.”
On Tuesday, May 26, the group will go out into the Shelby community and share their goals and the Kiwanis mission.
“You touch people’s lives in this organization. It’s a wonderful organization; I can’t say enough about it,” said District Governor Diana Keplinger.
