The Kronicle: August 2011

The Kronicle (Summer Style) The Official Publication of the Georgia District Greetings Great and Powerful Georgia District!

What’s inside Secretary update Treasurer update Membership/ Recruitment International update Club/Member Spotlight

It’s that time of year again and summer is in full swing. Beach trips and family time are the highlight for most of us while for others it’s just getting a break from all the hardcore studying that we’re doing throughout the year. While enjoying ourselves and relaxing is always fun, let us not forget to get out and serve! Summer serving for me is always fun, I find ways to get involved where I can get out and enjoy the beautiful Georgia days! I encourage you to do the same! There are so many ways to make an impact in your communities during the summer! Take full advantage of some of the service projects that you could not otherwise do during the school year. If you are on vacation and out at the beach, after a day splashing around, you can get some friends together and clean up the beach. There are many ways to simply serve no matter where you are or what you’re doing this summer.

During our April Board meeting, the Georgia District Board set the district goals for the 2011-2012 CKI year. I know that with all of your hard work and dedication we can easily meet these high marks. Make sure that your club is filling out the CMR completely and if there are hours, inter-clubs or K-family relations that didn’t make it on the CMR, you can send those to your LTG and we can get them added to your total and update the district totals.

2011-2012 Georgia District of Circle K Goals

Key Club Update 1.

Service!!

Meet the Board

Have 375 dues paid members by March 31, 2012

2.

Have 60 Circle K members at the Fall Membership Retreat and 85 Circle K members at District Convention

3.

Have 3, 750 reported service hours by March 31, 2012

4.

Have 150 reported inter-clubs and 100 K-Family relations by March 31, 2012

5.

Charter/Reactivate 5 clubs by March 31, 2012

Throughout the year the district board will be coming up with new and better resources to assist you with recruitment and retention, membership education and much more.

Don’t forget to go over to www.georgiacirclek.org and check out our resource page where you can find many other resources that can help your club be the best it can be!

Remember that we are a team and TOGETHER WE CAN accomplish greatness!

Have a wonderful summer and keep on serving!

Kevin

Secretary Update Hey Georgia District!

This year is filled with great changes! Starting off, GACKI now has an online Club Monthly Report (CMR) form! It's user friendly and easy to follow! CMRs are due on the 5th of each month and here's the link to the online CMR http://georgiacirclek.org/Georgia_CKI/CMR.html Club officers, please make sure to get your CMRs in each month so your club can apply for awards & scholarships!! I also wanted to mention the changes for that were made by International!

1. An interclub shall be defined as a meeting or event organized by two or more CKI clubs, including CKI clubs-in-formation, in which at least two members from each CKI club attend.

2. A Kiwanis Family Relation (KFR) shall be defined as a meeting or event organized by at least one CKI club and at least one other level of the Kiwanis Family, including clubs-in-formation, in which at least two members from each club attend. (2/11) a. The other levels of the Kiwanis Family are K-Kids, Builder’s Club, Key Club International, Key Leader, Kiwanis Junior,Kiwanis International, Young Professionals, Golden K, and Aktion Club.

3. If there are two or more CKI clubs present at a Kiwanis Family Relation event or meeting with at least two members from each CKI club, it shall count as one interclub and one Kiwanis Family Relation.

Service Hour Rewrite (Section J, Clause 2) 1. Policy Definitions c. Service administration shall be defined as the preparation time spent coordinating a particular service project, such as working with a community agency, acquiring project supplies, or conducting necessary pre-project volunteer training.

2. A service project shall be defined as a voluntary act by at least one CKI member in good standing that will aid the community, directly or indirectly. The service project must be organized or promoted by a Kiwanis Family organization.

2. Service Hours a. A service hour is 60 minutes of work performed by a CKI member in good standing on a service project. b. Travel time to service projects exceeding one-half an hour of travel shall be considered service hours, not administrative hours. c. Service administration shall be considered service hours, not administrative hours. d. All proceeds raised during a fund-raising activity must be applied toward a charitable entity for the fund-raiser to be considered as service hours.

Last but not least! So far this year, the Georgia District gained a total of 711.75 (April-June) service hours!!

Keep up the good work guys!

Ashleey Davis District Secretary

YOU CAN PUT THE FUN BACK IN FUNDRAISING Dues, Fees, and Conventions, OH MY… I bet you’re wondering how your club can pay all of the dues and fees associated with Circle K and still have money to buy supplies for service projects and socials. The answer is FUNDRAISING! There are many ways to bring revenue into your club and I have listed a few below. There are a few points I must include before I tell you ideas for fundraising. First, remember while fundraising it is imperative that you tell the truth…it’s true what you’ve heard “the truth will set you free”. If you are fundraising for members of your club to go to District Convention let them know. Do not say the donated money will go to charity when in fact it is going to send 5 members to the Fall Membership Retreat. Also remember to have fun while you plan and execute your fundraisers. As you wash cars, you all can laugh and play music which makes your fundraiser more appealing to the public. It is a cool way to make bonds with members of your club while making some extra money. This is only a sneak peek…if you come to the Fall Membership Retreat in November of 2011, I will give you more fun and creative ways to fundraise and believe me you don’t want to miss it. So here goes…..

1) Approach a local Kiwanis Club about helping you club fund a certain event. Many Kiwanis clubs have a section of their budget devoted to sponsoring clubs or youth. Send them a letter stating that you’re an active club that does a lot for the community (list a few) and your club needed help paying for an event. If they do give you a donation please show gratitude in some form.

2) Clean-up the yards of the elderly or a yard that just needs cleaning. You can create a flyer to be put up in familiar neighborhoods or maybe an ad in the paper offering to clean up yards for a donation. Please go as a group.

3) 50/50 Raffle. You could raffle off just about anything of value (food plates, xbox 360,tv, ipod) but make sure the price of the prizes are ½ the price of the money you collected to ensure some profit. Get cheap tickets from party city or Walmart. Participants have to be present to win. (collect over a few weeks) (Any lottery, raffle, drawing or game of chance so approved must not conflict with any laws, customs or traditions of the country, state or province in which the Circle K club exists. ) 4) Gala. Provide a meal, speaker, and entertainment (student with talent) and charge a fee for entry depending on what type of food you serve you could have great profit. Sell tickets a few weeks before the event to get a head count for the caterer. If your Gala is for a great cause I am sure people will com.

5) Sell Hand painted umbrellas if you have an artist in your club 6) Homemade Ice Cream Social (Homemade Ice cream is the best) 7) Pie in the Face Contest 8) Eating Contest 9) Poetry Slam 10) Club Yard Sale 11) Karaoke Night, winner wins prize. Must pay a fee to enter.

12) Talent Show. Must pay a fee to enter.

13) Bagger for a Day at a grocery store. Talk to the grocery store manager at a busy grocery store first. They may not mind your club coming to bag groceries and take them out to customers’ cars for your club. Make sure to bring a tip jar and wear your t-shirts.

14) Club or Neighborhood Bottle/Can collection (sometimes companies give money for returned cans) 15) Pancake Breakfast 16) Sell Holiday Cookies around the big holidays. People love sweets 17) You could have a Bake off Bake sale‌Designed like Top Chef. The bakers (from your club or school) could cook and at the end spectators could purchase the goodies made in front of them.

By: Alicia Gainey Georgia District Treasurer

How Different Clubs Recruit and Retain Members As an international organization, we work with a variety of different schools in different areas, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, large schools have more people that the club can appeal to, while smaller schools have fewer students to pull from. However, large schools also tend to mean more competition, and may not have the personal feel that a smaller club may have at a campus of a few thousand. It is important to recognize these differences in your own campus so that you are better able to appeal to as much of your campus as possible. For example, large, established clubs in large campuses may have the benefit of a good, long-term reputation and strong membership, but may also suffer from the “personal touch.” By providing leadership opportunities, like organizing a different student as a “project leader” for each event, or by promoting committees for freshman and sophomores to join, large clubs can retain a young leader base that will carry through the years.

On the other hand, smaller clubs may be struggling to make the membership requirements and may find that they require more small-scale socials, with one-on-one time between long-standing members and new interest, to recruit members. In this situation, creating large committees may not be a good idea, since there are not enough people, but taking advantage of that “small club, close family” attitude will keep members coming week after week. Older clubs may find themselves repeating events over and over again, which may discourage members from attending year after year. To address this, perhaps freshman could be encouraged to find and lead new projects. This gives an old club some fresh, new perspective and allows clubs, regardless of their size, to take advantage of new potential. Newer clubs would clearly not have the problem of repeating events, as they are new, but may be struggling to establish themselves in a campus with lots of other service-oriented organizations. Finding one particular event to do annually, which that CKI club can be known for, is a good way of creating something that can be carried through the year. This would also be good for creating publicity for the club throughout the campus, especially if the club organizes a large social fundraiser or something similar. While there are a lot of different “traits” to every CKI club, I have included some of the ones that I feel are especially important when deciding how to recruit and retain members for the 2011-2012 year: -­­ Club Size: Do you have a club that is struggling to make 20 members, or a club that is bursting with hundreds?

-­­ Campus Size: Are you a campus of 2,000 or 15,000? Knowing how large your campus is will allow you to better understand how many people will attend your events.

-­­ Area Size: Do you live in a large metropolitan city or a suburban neighborhood?

-­­ School Regulations: Know the Do’s and Don’ts of your school and follow them. If you want to do fundraisers, make sure it’s not against school policies.

-­­ Competition: How many other community service organizations are there? You want to establish good ties with these clubs to not only help each other’s memberships, but to potentially work on events together.

-­­ Age of Club: Are you a club of 3 years or 30 years?

-­­ Majors: Do you have a lot of majors who are premed or education? You can gear certain events to a particular major to encourage that department to support your endeavors.

Of course, this is not a complete list, and there are many other factors to consider, but this is a general start that you can help to start better understanding your club and its potential for the future.

Recruiting and retaining members are hard tasks, but by understanding your club and your campus, you will be better able to help your club blossom and grow.

-Josephine Lukito International Membership and Marketing Committee

Dear GACKI, Another CKI year has come and gone, but don’t fret yet! We have so much to celebrate! A year of service to our communities, a year of touched lives by our hands, and a year of new friendships Now just take a moment and think of at least one thing in each of those categories you have accomplished. Have any favorites?

This past year I’ve travelled to six different districts (two even twice!) and have met some incredible people changing the world for the better. In all those travels a few memories really stand out: The first is a trip to middle-of-somewhere Georgia, to a camp with an Amazing Race. Even cooler than the race were the people there. Students who came for the weekend (and even studied while we were there *eye roll*) just to spend time with one another and serve in any way possible.

When you think service, you may think reading a book to a child or helping the elderly with groceries or even that weekend clean-up project your club just finished. But let me give you some insight to another type of service you perform on a daily basis.

Picture this: Jasmine, a 20 year old college student, is walking down the street after a big fight with her mom. Her little brother has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The family is financially hurting making tension ten times worse. She comes across a bridge and stands there contemplating life. A complete stranger and his younger sister walk by. He smiles and the little girl waves and says hi. Jasmine waves and watches the two go. She then reflects on how much she loves the sound of her little brother laughing and decides to return to the hospital and makes mends with her mom.

The power of random acts of kindness is unfathomable and limitless. A single smile can change a person’s outlook on the day, and a small gesture as simple as a high five or wave can change a person’s life. Never underestimate the impact of service of any kind and know that you make those changes in people’s lives daily. I know because I’ve experienced it: welcoming a complete stranger to camp for games and a weekend of unforgettable memories.

Remember to always smile and help someone in need, who knows; tomorrow that person may be you.

Thanks again for EVERYTHING that you do!!!!!!!!

Yours in Caring Service, Nicole Loehr International Vice-President

Member Spotlight Nominated by Brittany Horton, Coastal Lieutenant Governor Sara Strickland from East Georgia College is a remarkable young woman with a compassionate heart for service. She has outstandingly shown her commitment to others on several occasions, including when she cooked a spectacular meal for about thirty people at the Ronald McDonald House, in Savannah earlier this spring. As a club member, she is actively involved in service projects, socials, and fundraisers. She is always offering to help the club in any way possible. In the past, she has helped to organize, plan, adjust, and lead any team to a successful goal while also being a friend to others. Her concern was well displayed at the Pinetree Breeze Bike Ride this year when she spent countless hours giving food and water to the bikers, talking with and encouraging them to never give up. By the end of the race, all the bikers had something good to say about her character. When it came to large-scale events like District Convention and the Subregion G Event, she met those new opportunities with candidness and a smile, even shuttling four other individuals on a ten-hour round trip for the latter event. She has embarked on every endeavor, climbed every mountain, and showed kindness to every person she met along the way. She has never held a leadership position at the club or district level, but I would dare say she is a true leader by example, and what I would call a real unsung hero.

Club Spotlight Nominated by Brittany Horton, Coastal Lieutenant Governor East Georgia College Circle K has done well to set forth an example in the Coastal Division by taking every opportunity to serve as a blessing. Over the past few months, I have watched this club expand their arms to families in stress and grief at the Ronald McDonald House in Savannah by preparing a home-cooked meal to bring them some comfort. I have seen as they diligently prepared the Pinetree Breeze Bikeride in Swainsboro, Georgia, to raise money for the Herrington Homestead, a Georgia Sheriff Youth Home, by fundraising and obtaining sponsors for the bike ride. Not only did they accomplish this, but they also painted the roads and tended to the bikers the day of the ride. They were so caring and encouraging that no biker had one negative thing to say about them, only positive assurances of the quality people they are.

Even as the spring semester drew to an end and several of the members graduated, they still took time to drive five hours to Cleveland, Georgia, May 20-22 to attend the Subregion G Summer Service Social.

Throughout the entirety of the weekend, each member felt they made a contribution to the overall goal - to serve the community. They came home laughing and smiling, not thinking how tired they might have been but instead how grateful they were to have the opportunity to meet so many new people and do so many great things. Great job East Georgia College and keep up the good work!

Hello college students!

My name is Meredith Elder, and it is an honor to hold the position of Key Club Georgia District Governor for the 2011-2012 year. I look forward to the experiences, opportunities, and chances to serve that seem to be in the future. After going to GATC, a governor’s training conference, I have gained even more excitement for what this year holds. The District Board has already gathered once, and the meeting reflected a promising year for Key Clubbers.

As Governor, I plan promote and use service as the best way of reaching our homes, schools, and communities. Key Club serves to various organizations through various projects. In order to help the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes, we have already begun planning visits and raising funds. In order to reach an overall goal of $20,000 for the homes, each school is challenged to raise $400. Our district contributes beyond Georgia’s borders by working with organizations such as Unicef, Children’s Miracle Network, and March of Dimes and by communicating with Key Club International. Our committees have already discussed ways of improving our service projects to these groups. Our committees have also already discussed making needed updates to our manuals, techniques in membership growth, and to the Key Club gathering, GRLTC, which is now Convention Rally. Our committees have further discussed ideas for project eliMiNaTe, our service fair, and a Tri-K project.

I am ready to see what results from our efforts invested in the K-family and those we help. I will be working hard to make sure that the values of the K-family and the true meaning of service are both upheld in Key Club, and I know that together we can make a difference!

The Eliminate Project: We are the Gamechangers By: Avanti Kollaram CKI Eliminate Project Ambassador Virginia Commonwealth University CKI In June of last year, Kiwanis International made their new Kiwanis Family Initiative the Eliminate Project: a promise to donate $10 Million by 2015 to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus in 42 Asian countries and 15 states in India. Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) is a disease that is passed through unsafe birthing practices through an infected umbilical cord. When a baby contracts this disease, they are extremely sensitive to touch and sound, so much so that their own mother cannot comfort them. The good news is, no mother and child have to experience this, because MNT is 100% preventable. All it takes is 3 vaccines, which cost $0.60 each to keep a mother and child together forever.

This past April, I had the opportunity to see first hand what the Eliminate Project was about in Cambodia.

This particular area of the world is unique because it has the highest population of children out of all of the Asian countries. Also, MNT is almost completely eliminated and only 15% of it remains there. However, it is this final 15% that is the hardest because MNT only exists in the hard to reach areas. Over the course of a week, I was able to see first hand how UNICEF reaches out to these extremely poor villages and the network they have established to educate the women about proper birthing methods and vaccinations.

UNICEF trains two midwives from each village and it is their responsibility to train the rest of the village.

Whether this be through door-to-door education, setting up clinics and even making sure each woman in the village has had her vaccinations, this is the effective system UNICEF has set up. But, they need our help.

We are the gamechangers. Together as a Kiwanis Family, we can raise this $10 Million and totally eliminate MNT from the face of the earth. It is outrageous that a totally preventable disease takes a child from its mother every 9 minutes. It is our duty as a Kiwanis Family to step up to the plate and change the course of history for these mothers and babies, forever.

If you would like to see more about the Eliminate Project and how it has effective Cambodia, please take a look at my day-to-day blog that I kept while in Cambodia at www.loving2serve.livejournal.com. And if you have any questions about the Eliminate Project, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Avanti.kollaram@gmail.com.

Project Playground

By Stefan Ludlow Blue Ridge Lieutenant Governor and District Service Chair 10 years ago in 2001 the Georgia District of CKI developed a new district service project, which we know today as Project Playground.

This project was developed under the HEALTHY (Health and Exercise Always Leads to Happier Youth) initiative to help children get out and exercise through playground equipment that is safe and placed in good environments. There are two components to project playground. The first is to raise funds to help build playgrounds and the other is doing our part to clean, paint, fix, equip and otherwise helping existing playgrounds to remain a fun and safe environment for children of all ages. The most recent playground funded by the Georgia District of CKI was completed in at Hillside Psychiatric hospital in Atlanta. It is my hope that this year we can step back up to the plate and do our part to once again help our youth have better playgrounds. We can all do our part, let’s make this CKI year one to remember and do all that we can to work towards better youth through this great project!

Name: Kevin Barnes (governor@georgiacirclek.org) Position: District Governor School: Truett-McConnell College Year: Junior Major: History with a minor in American Miltary History Fun Fact: I love to travel to different historic places and spend hours in museums. I also have an obsession with Grape Kool-aid.

Name: Ashleey Davis (secretary@georgiacirclek.org) Position: District Secretary and Immediate Past Governor School: Kennesaw State University Year: Senior Major: Graphic Design, Marketing (minor) Fun Fact: My favorite food is Shrimp!! Love Seafood!

Name: Alicia Gainey (treasurer@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Treasurer School: Kennesaw State University Year: Senior Major: Biology Fun Fact: I love to dance..I break out in dance with no music in the middle of the floor.

Name: Elizabeth Ludlow (bulletin@georgiacirclek.org or internationalservice@georgiacirclek.org) Positions: Bulletin Editor and International Service Chair School: Georgia Tech Year: Senior Major: Psychology Fun Fact: I love pumpkin flavored food!

Name: Stefan Ludlow (blueridgeltg@georgiacirclek.org or districtservice@georgiacirclek.org) Positions: Blue Ridge Lieutenant Governor and District Service Chair School: Georgia Tech Year: Junior Major: Computer Engineering Fun Fact: My favorite service project is the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Name: Brittany Horton (coastalltg@georgiacirclek.org or mde@georgiacirclek.org) Positions: Coastal Lieutenant Governor and Membership, Development, and Education Chair School: East Georgia College Year: Junior Major: Computer Science Fun Fact : I’ve been to 40 of the 50 states.

Name: Anupama (Ana) Sangadala (metroltg@georgiacirclek.org)

Position: Metro Lieutenant Governor School: Emory University Year: Junior Majors: Biology and Italian Fun Fact: My favorite service project is Project Open Hand.

Name: Mary Randall (mountainsltg@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Mountains Lieutenant Governor School: Reinhardt University Year: Graduate Student Major: Early Childhood Education Fun Fact: I sang at the Vatican with my high school choir

Name: Kip Wise (pioneerltg@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Pioneer Lieutenant Governor School: Gordon College Year : Junior Major : Psychology Fun Fact: My nickname is Gaga.

Name: Jessica Bostick (plainsltg@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Plains Lieutenant Governor School: Valdosta State University Year: Junior Major: Sociology and Psychology Fun Fact: I’m allergic to cucumbers.

Name: Mark Woelzlein (awards@georgiacirclek.org) Positions: Awards Chair and Sergeant-at-Arms Chair School: University of West Georgia Major: Real Estate Fun Fact: I am a Master Sergeant in the United States Army

Name: Amanda Smith (dcon@georgiacirclek.org)

Position: District Convention Chair School: Brenau University Year: Junior Major: Early Childhood Education Fun Fact: I know Sign Language.

Name: Jeff Little (executive@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Executive Chair School: University of West Georgia Year: Graduate Student Major: Business Fun Fact: I don’t take “no” for an answer, anything is possible.

Name: Michael Werve (fmr@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Fall Membership Retreat Chair School: Georgia Tech Year: Senior Major: Electrical Engineering Fun Fact: I have about 10 nicknames.

Name: James Nunnally (gsyh@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Georgia Sheriffs’’ Youth Home Liaison School: Georgia State University Year: Freshman Major: Musical Education Fun Fact: I play in a six piece punk/hardcore band.

Name; Alex Dabrowska (historian@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Historian School: Georgia Tech Year: Junior Major: Economics and International Affairs Fun Fact: I traveled to Poland over spring break.

Name: Virginia Byrd (kfamily@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Kiwanis Family Chair School: Georgia Southern University Year: Freshmen Major: Management and Information Systems Fun Fact: My favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese.

Name: Milton James (newclubs@georgiacirclek.org) Position: New Club Building and Reactivation Chair School: Georgia Tech Year: Freshmen Major: Biomedical Engineering Fun Fact: I played football in high school.

Name: Jon Smith (prescouncil@georgiacirclek.org) Position: President’s Council Chair School: Reinhardt University Year: Sophomore

Name: Dixita Patel (webmaster@georgiacirclek.org) Position: Webmaster School: Georgia Tech Year: Junior Major: Biomedical Engineering Fun Fact: I was born on Halloween!

Name: Brent Leslie (administrator@georgiacirclek.org) Position: District Administrator School: Graduated from Valdosta State University Kiwanis Club: eKiwanis of Greater Atlanta Fun Fact: I was the first outstanding alumni recognized by Circle K International.

Name Anla Etheridge (butterflyanla318@gmail.com) Position:- Assistant Administrator School: Graduated from Brenau University Kiwanis Club: eKiwanis of Greater Atlanta Fun Fact: I have three adorable dogs!

Name: Stacey Fountain (fountainsfolly@gmail.com) Position: Assistant Administrator School: Graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and is attending Macon State University Kiwanis Club: eKiwanis of Greater Atlanta Fun Fact: My nickname is Nancy Drew.

Name: Natalie Hranek (nataliehelen185@yahoo.com ) Position: Assistant Administrator School: Graduated from Reinhardt University Kiwanis Club: Marietta Golden K Fun Fact: I am the youngest member of my Kiwanis Club.

Name: Patsy Rivera (patsy.rivera@yahoo.com) Position: Assistant Administrator School: Graduated from Fort Hays State University Kiwanis Club: e-Kiwanis of Greater Atlanta Fun Fact: Former GA Circle K Governor & I’m having a children’s book published this fall.

Upcoming events October 21-22, 2011 Service Social Tour November 4-6, 2011 Fall Membership Retreat February 24-26, 2012 District Convention The Mission of Circle K International “Developing college and university students into a global network of responsible citizens and leaders with a lifelong commitment to service. “ If you want more information about Georgia Circle K, please visit www.georgiacirclek.org.

If you would like more information about Circle K International, please visit www.circlek.org.

If you need money for projects go to www.circlek.org for information about the Tomorrow Fund.