2014 | Spring
End of the CKI Year! District Convention Division Updates!
AUC with College of the Bahamas!
Circle K International (CKI) develops college and university students into a global network of responsible citizens and leaders with a lifelong commitment to service.
Table of Contents Cover Photo
YHC Circle K takes a moment to have fun. © Michael Pomawski
10
How to Be a Winner
3
Governor’s Address
11
AUC/Bahamas Spring Break
4
Goals Progress
12
District Convention
5
March of Dimes
14
Upcoming Events
6
District Map
15
Upcoming Events
7
Division Updates
16
Editor’s Note
9
Club & Member Spotlight
17
Contact Us!
Governor’s Address The Georgia District of Circle K chartered a new club at Berry College sponsored by Rome Kiwanis and reactivated a club at Atlanta University Center sponsored by Peachtree Atlanta and West End Atlanta Kiwanis clubs. Our district met and far surpassed many of our district goals we set at the beginning of our term. with With your help, we surpassed our service hour goal, met our Kiwanis
Greetings for the last time, my wonderful Georgia District!
Parting is such sweet sorrow. After five wonderful years, my Circle K career is finally reaching its end. I cannot think of a better use of my college days than those spent doing service for others, laughing with my friends, and learning to lead. These have been some of the best years of my life, and I have all of you to thank for making this experience so unforgettable. From my humble beginnings at East Georgia State College to the Georgia District Board, this experience has been one fun ride from beginning to end. I’ve watched our clubs and our district grow and achieve more than I ever imagined, and I’m proud to say I’ve grown along with it.
Family hours goal 3x over, and exceeded our Eliminate raising $1747.00, as well as our membership growth goal. None of this could be possible without your help. I am personally thanking you for the work you’ve done with your clubs and encourage you to continue this trend. We currently have 8 prospective clubs to charter within the next year: ABAC, College of Coastal Georgia, Emory University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Mercer University, Ogeechee Technical College, SCAD, and the University of Georgia. I sought at the beginning of this year to “Be the Difference You Want to See in the World,” a quote from Ghandi. However,
during my term, I met so many wonderful people who brought me smiles, tears, thoughts, and joys. They changed me little by little and shaped me into who I am.
It’s funny, because even though I wanted to change the world, it ended up changing me instead. But that’s not a bad thing! I learned that if you can influence one person, then they will be forever changed. And they will influence someone else who will also change. This means we can, in fact, change the world one person at a time. I don’t know if I could sum up to you in a few sentences how Circle K changed who I am today. But know this – I am who I am, I act the way I do, I care for others, I love and appreciate my friends, I know the power my hands can do – simply because Circle K taught me that. I know how to lead (not perfectly mind you), and I know how to follow. I love to do service for others. I love to make people smile. I want to make a difference, big or small, for someone. I am insignificant, yet what I do is significant. Not because I do it only for myself, but because I do it for everyone. Keep being awesome, amazing, fantastic, and every other word I’ve ever said to you, Circle K. You are all wonderful individuals who, by working together, can shape our future into one that is forever better. Thank you for all your encouragement, motivation, and devotion. I wish you all the best in your college careers and the years to come. Your Friend in Service (Always),
Brittany Horton Circle K’er
Goals 122% with 4874.5 hours and more to come. We met our Kiwanis Family hours goal 3x over with an astounding 1092 hours. The Georgia District surpassed our service hour goal by
With our annual Pie-in-the-face auction at our District Convention, we were able to meet and exceed our Eliminate Fundraising goal by
92%
134% and raise $1747.00.
We had of our clubs in-good-standing attend our district convention a few weeks ago with only 1 club in-good-standing not in attendance. For the first time in over 12 years, the Georgia District of Circle K surpassed our membership growth goal by
116%.`
405 members and exceeded
March of Dimes
T
he March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. March of Dimes was founded in 1938 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, but was originally known as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The March of Dimes Mission is “To improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.” This time of year, usually April or May, many groups will host a local “March for Babies”. To see if there is a March for Babies in your area, visit marchforbabies.org. Or, host your own event! Have a community wide “march” and have everyone donate at least $5.00 to participate. Ask local shops to advertise this event in their stores and/or sponsor the march. There are many ways to get involved with this great organization; for more information visit marchofdimes.org.
Victoria Byrd, Service Chair
© March of Dimes
Georgia District District Divisions: Georgia Circle K is broken up into five divisions. Each division has an LTG (Lieutenant Governor) who is elected annually at DCON (District Convention. The LTG oversees and advises the clubs in his or her division. Check out the Georgia divisions here!
LTG: Brian (Jae Won) Shin
2013-2014 Georgia CKI Clubs Armstrong Atlantic State University Atlanta University Center Brewton-Parker College Darton College Georgia College & State University Georgia Southern University Gwinnett Technical College Oxford College at Emory Young Harris College
Bainbridge College Berry College Columbus State University East Georgia State College Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia State University Kennesaw State University University of West Georgia
Schedule a Visit!
You can have any member of the district board visit your club! To request a visit: Click the “request visit form� button on the district website! Visit http://www.georgiacirclek.org/
Division Updates
Metro Division
In an effort to promote and raise money for the ELIMINATE project, the Georgia State Circle K club hosted a fundraiser at a local restaurant close to their campus. They also shared some K-Family spirit by attending and volunteering at the Downtown Kiwanis Gala a few weeks ago.
A
s the CKI year comes to an end, the clubs of the Metro Division have been in the process of nominations and elections to determine the officers for the next CKI year. But in the midst of all that, the clubs of the Metro Division have managed to do some really cool service projects, interclub events, fund raisers and much more. For hunger and homelessness week, the GT Circle K club participated in an event at Georgia Tech called Sting Hunger Now. At this event, the Georgia Tech and metro Atlanta community were able to make 250,000 meals and raise over $50,000 which will go towards helping children. In addition to this event, the GT Circle K club has continued to perform their weekly projects as well as raise money and awareness for the ELIMINATE project through their weekly Eliminate Thursday event. The University of West Georgia has also continued to perform their regular service in addition to volunteering at their campus’s 5th Annual Multicultural Festival.
GT Circle K at Sting Hunger Now
The Atlanta University Center also showed their K-Family spirit by having an interclub with the Bahamas
Circle K club! For their spring break, a few members from the AUC travelled to the Bahamas and while there, they decided to visit the Circle K club for some service and fellowship. The AUC club is also planning a week of service on their campus for the week of April 5th, please contact me for more information. Overall, it has been a busy few weeks for the Metro Division. For more information on what the clubs in the Metro Division have been up to and have coming up, please check their Facebook pages.
AUC with the College of the Bahamas
Plains Division
Thank you Plains Division for all your hard work. I know that are far from many district events, but I would like to congratulate you for all the successes you have accomplished this year. You have been more communicative than in the past and there is also few clubs who are looking to re-activate! I know that I wasn’t able to visit because of the distance, but don’t be afraid to contact your Lieutenant Governor when you have questions or concerns! I was eager to receive any questions or concerns you had. Thank you for a great year in service and I hope to see the Plains Division grow more.
Member Spotlight: Drew Kelly Drew has worked very hard, helping his club out a lot with planning, and attending events. He really deserves recognition because CKI is his main priority. Service is what keeps him going.
He is the image of Circle K and what it is all about. We are lucky to have him on our district board. He has a big heart. He is an extraordinary person inside and out.
Club Spotlight:
Armstrong Atlantic State University Armstrong Atlantic State University Circle K Club recently held a bake sale where they raised over $120 for the Eliminate project in about 2 hours! Armstrong Atlantic State University is a college located in Savannah Ga. The president is Ayanna Thompson and The Vice President is Rebekah Robinson. It is still a fairly new club, having been chartered in 2013, but they have been very active since then. They are very active on campus and in the community, as well as with the Kiwanis club. Nominated by: Kristi Parker
How to be a Winner Winning.
It is not just a word; winning is a state of being. To be a winner is so much more than getting a trophy or certificate. It is a state of mind that is held in place constantly. Winners have the aura of success pervading the air around them. Today, you will learn the secrets on how to be a winner. Tips on winningness: 1) You must visualize yourself as a winner. Winners do not think about whether or not they will win, they just accept it as a fact of life. 2) Do not take loss as an answer. Take the other option: winning. 3) Think positive. Winners are not negative; they are affirmative about their ability to overcome any and all obstacles. 4) Keep your smack talk at a necessary level. You want everyone to know you think you will win without giving away that you KNOW you will win. Smack talk is crucial, but we don’t want any unsportsmanlike conduct going on. That’s for losers. 5) When in a lose-lose situation, win. Take the best of it and make it better. 6) And most importantly, Make everyone on your team have a winner’s drive. If you’re on a team of losers, make them winners. I hope these words have helped you to uncover the winner within yourself. Anyone can become a winner if they simply bring out their true potential. Win on, friends, win on.
Yours in winning,
Maeve, GT & Drew, UWG Experts of Winning
AUC Spring Breaks in the Bahamas!
F
or the past few years, students from Circle K International of the Atlanta University Center have embarked on an exciting passage to service and leadership. Since 2012, AUC Circle K has worked in the community with organizations addressing social issues ranging from hunger and homelessness to environmental protection and education. Last semester, three AUC Circle K’ers, decided to spend their Spring Break in Nassau, New Providence Island, the Bahamas. The Bahamas is a beautiful, Caribbean county made up of over 700 islands with pristine beaches, vibrant history, and a bustling tourist industry that caters to many desires of short term travelers. As Circle K’ers, service is always on their minds and an interest in community development and culture encouraged them to seek more from their time in Nassau. This interest led AUC Club President Brittany Pruitt to reach out to the Bahamian counterpart of Circle K International. With a Facebook friend request and a few messages it was confirmed that several of their days in Nassau would be spent partnering with the Circle K International of the College of the Bahamas (CKICOB) on their initiatives to serve and make an impact on the Nassau community.
While in Nassau, they attended a meeting with the CKICOB club sponsor, the Kiwanis Club of Cable Beach, joined CKICOB members at the Carib Spirit Week campus organization fair as they raised awareness of their role in the community, fundraised, and recruited members to their club, and then they finally met up with members at a local beach called Goodman’s Bay to assist in their beach clean-up service project. Spending time and serving the Nassau community with their Bahamian peers was more than anything AUC Circle K members could have imagined or planned for. It was a great opportunity for cultural exchange as well as a time for resource-sharing and the development of ideas to ensure the future success of the organization on their respective campus. Circle K has encouraged students for years to engage their communities through service with their peers and AUC Circle K is grateful to have been able to allow a few members to experience that with another community abroad during their final spring break.
Brittany Pruitt, AUC President
top: AUC attends a CKICOB meeting. right: AUC and CKICOB clean up the beach.
District Convention
O
n February 21-23, 2014, 80 Circle K members, Key Clubbers, and Kiwanians joined together in Peachtree City, GA for the 55th Annual Georgia District of Circle K International Convention. Friday kicked off the ceremony in ancient Greece with the first ever Service Olympics. Teams had fellowship participating in several service project, including Boo-Boo Bunnies, water packages, and dog toys for local communities.
top: Circle K’ers make dog toys for local animal shelters as part of the Service Olympics. left: The Service Olympics also produced stress balls for students struggling through finals week right: Nick Mohammed (GT) receives the George “Dad” Grey scholarship.
Saturday started with a fun Kiwanis Family breakfast. In divisional caucusing, candidates for office campaigned and answered questions from their constituents. Circle K’ers also went to several workshops that helped them learn things like website building, interviews, and budgeting.Later, we had another service project, the president’s banquet, the election of the new district board, and we concluded with the ever popular pie in the face.
Sunday morning was more somber with the retirement of the old district board and instillation of the new district board. It was a little sad to see Brittany’s farewell address as well as so many seniors at their last Circle K event before graduation. Congratulations to those of you who went home with awards! Overall District Convention was a huge success and the new district board looks forward to an even more successful event next year! Your friend in Service,
Virginia Byrd DCON Chair 2014-2015 Governor
top left: district administrators Anla Etheridge and Stacy Fountain (left, right) and Kentucky-Tennesee governor April Ford open registration in Greek attire. top right: Circle K’ers socialize before the formal President’s Banquet. above: Service Chair Victoria Byrd receives the district Outstanding Chair award. far left: Safiya Wright (UWG) shows off the finished Boo-Boo Bunny. bottom left: Team Win finishes some stress balls for students taking tests. left: Jimmy Zhou gets ready to pie Metro LTG Simi Oludare in the face.
Upcoming Events
CKIx is a six day event taking place in Nashville, TN that brings the entire CKI family together from all over the world LSSP, or Large-Scale-Service-Project, is exactly that: a big service project with hundreds of Circle K’ers making a difference in the community. The projects will work with organizations such as Nashville Rescue Mission, Project C.U.R.E., and the Ronald McDonald House. Because service is at the heart of what we do, LSSP is a great way to wrap up the year in service and have a lot of fun! International Convention (ICON) is where the international Circle K community gathers for some official business and to celebrate the year together. At ICON we have our elections for the international board, honor clubs and districts with international awards, learn at various workshops, and so much more! For more information, see www.circlek.org and visit the CKIx link.
Don’t
to turn Forget in you r CMR Month ’s (Clu ly Rep b orts) on or b efore t he 5th month ! of eve ry
Editor’s Note
H
ello, y’all!
It’s been one heck of a year. I have had so much fun getting to know new friends and spending time with old ones at our various district events. Thank you for your dedication to this organization— whether it’s sacrificing sleep to put together resources, or trucking through an entire day of service projects, or just having a good time at club socials. You’ve had more interclubs than ever, promoting fellowship throughout the district. It’s a beautiful thing when students from different colleges can go camping in North Georgia and watch the sunrise together--or when they travel from across borders to clean up the beaches in the Bahamas and share in Circle K friendship. It’s been Iawesome serving with you all—you, Circle K, are some of my greatest friends and you give me hope for the future. Four years ago I joined Circle K, and I think a lot of us joined, because we had this crazy idea that young people really can change the world. And throughout this year you have proved that many times over. Congratulations on a great year of leadership, fellowship, and service. I look forward to seeing the new board and all of the clubs accomplish even greater things next year.
photo credit © Richie Heyward 2013
You give me hope for the future I could not be more proud to document your stories and share them with the world. You have a lot to be proud of. My hope for you now is that you finish this year strong and keep on living and loving to serve.
Yours in service,
Shannon Weaver
2013-2014 GACKI Bulletin Editor
Stay Connected /georgiacirclek
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Contact Us! District Governor
District Secretary
Brittany Horton governor@georgiacirclek.org
Elizabeth Ludlow secretary@georgiacirclek.org
Plains LTG
Advertising Chair
Jae Won Shin plainsltg@georgiacirclek.org
Metro LTG Simi Oludare metroltg@georgiacirclek.org
Perimeter LTG Lori Gonzalez perimeterltg@georgiacirclek.org
Coastal LTG Kristi Parker coastalltg@georgiacirclek.org
Mountains LTG Christine Mayfield mountainsltg@georgiacirclek.
Amanda Kidd advertising@georgiacirclek.org
Awards Chair Julie Meigs awards@georgiacirclek.org
DCON Chair Virginia Byrd dcon@georgiacirclek.org
FMR Chair
District Treasurer Virginia Byrd treasurer@georgiacirclek.org
Historian Julie Meigs historian@georgiacirclek.org
Webmaster Amanda Kidd webmaster@georgiacirclek.org
K Family Chair Victoria Byrd kfamily@georgiacirclek.org
Multimedia Chair Gabriel Dukes multimedia@georgiacirclek.org
Service Chair
Christine Farsi fmr@georgiacirclek.org
Victoria Byrd service@georgiacirclek.org
Assistant Administrator
Assistant Administrator
Anla Etheridge butterflyanla6318@gmail.com
Bulletin Editor Shannon Weaver editor@georgiacirclek.org
Stacey Fountain fountainsfolly@gmail.com
District Administrator Brent Leslie kermit5839@yahoo.com
the official publication of the Georgia District of Circle K International