The T-O Today - Volume 31, Issue 3

TO-TODAY ISSUE 3

a Kiwanis-family member www.circlek.org 3636 WOODVIEW TRACE INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46286 USA 1-317-875-8755 ● US AND CANADA: 1-800-KIWANIS ● cki@kiwanis.org

TEXAS-OKLAHOMA DISTRICT

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

Every month service is being done. The month of November is directed more to serving alongside our K-Family counterparts. Any opportunity I have to get to serve with either the College Station Kiwanis Club or the Memorial High Key Club, I jump on board immediately. If it's doing a Habitat build or creating a safer environment for elementary students to walk on a Nature Trail, working with other K-Family members confirms the idea of why Kiwanis International was founded. When we dedicate our time to work together to make difference, we do what Kiwanis means; "We share our talents."

Thank you, T-O CKI, for sharing your talents this year!

TEQUILA

Monica Caudillo

MOVIE MARATHON & RELAY FOR LIFE

Governor

DISTRICT CONVENTION STUFH SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY K-FAMILY HURRICANE IKE SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

TO CKI Board and the Memorial High Key Club after volunteering at the Victoria Texas Zoo this summer

A L I U TEQ

si Univer n r e t s thwe to Sou t i s i V 's Tequila

ty

Tequila the Texas-Oklahoma Circle K International District Mascot is a Nine-banded Armadillo, which is most common in the central southernmost states, particularly Texas. Tequila has been with the CKI of Southwestern University chapter since Fall Retreat in October of 2009. During this time, Tequila has done a lot of traveling and attended many meetings. Tequila was given to us by Governor of the Texas-Oklahoma CKI District, Monica Caudillo, and since then has been a vital part of our organization. Tequila made his debut to the Southwestern University chapter the week following Fall Retreat. On the ride home to Southwestern University, Tequila was safely buckled up by two of our members Laura Romer and Anabel Aviles.

By: Roberto Juarez (Southwestern University)

He was immediately accepted as one of our own members at Southwestern University. He has experienced what it is like to be part of the Southwestern University pirate community for over three months and has thoroughly enjoyed it, so much that he almost doesn’t want to leave! Over the past meetings we have learned that Tequila likes a variety of food choices that include grubs, worms and ants. Tequila will also eat cockroaches, beetles, snails, and even various fruits, and lettuce if provided. Although we have been keeping him on a strict fruit and lettuce diet to maintain him healthy. He has spent most of his time with the President of the CKI chapter at Southwestern University. Wherever President Roberto Juarez goes Tequila is sure to follow! Tequila is very easy to handle and is a great mascot to the TexasOklahoma CKI District. He can’t wait until he finds a whole new CKI chapter to explore!

& RELAY

FOR LIFE

For the 2009-2010 school year, the Oklahoma chapter of Circle K International organized two large-scale fundraising events: Movie Marathon (Fall 2009) and Relay for Life (Spring 2010). Movie Marathon was held on September 25, 2009 at the Meacham Auditorium of the Oklahoma Memorial Union from four o'clock in the afternoon till ten o'clock that night. During this time block, the movie Transformers 2 was shown in the auditorium and viewers were able to enjoy free Coca-Cola drinks (courtesy of the Coca-Cola Company) and free popcorn. Volunteers were at the door of the auditorium collecting an admissions of six cents to benefit the Six Cents Initiative. CKI’s Six Cents Initiative with UNICEF is designed to help children get the rehydrating salts they need to survive from dehydration.

By: Elise Johnston (Oklahoma University)

The money raised also goes towards finding a way to provide long-term solutions for the problem, which includes providing clean water resources through the installation of filtration and sanitation systems. The goal is to educate individuals on safe water and hygiene practices, and to provide supplies to produce safe water supplies for communities. Water samples were placed at the entrance to give viewers and idea of the water UNICEF provides to children. This proved to be successful as the Oklahoma chapter raised over two hundred fifty dollars!

OU CKI plans to be even more successful with our next large-scale fundraising event: Relay for Life. Relay for Life is an overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and pro grams of the American Cancer Society. Participants will form into teams and each participant will raise at least one hundred dollars. OU CKI is helping the participants reach their goal of one hundred dollars through a letter writing campaign to potential donors. The event will take place on April 24, 2010 from seven in the evening until seven in the morning on campus. During the event, team members will take turns walking or running laps and each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times. So far, OU CKI has enough participants to form at least one team and may possibly form two teams.

It always hits us o t y a that the year has gone w h g i H by so fast when Disp i h trict Convention and s Leader chapter elections are quickly

approaching. New leaders become the face of our CKI chapters and we develop goals to make the next year the "best year ever." Each year, the district board has similar goals in wanting to grow and make an even bigger impact on our communities. This is the time we start to think about who might be the best candidates for these tasks. And we think about getting together with our friends from across the district whom we haven't seen since Fall Retreat or our last inter-chapter. District Convention brings leaders of the past, present and future together, along with those who are so dedicated to this organization that impacts tens of thousands each year. It serves as an opportunity to voice your opinion on bylaws, participate and learn in forums, apply for a Kiwanis Foundation scholarship, meet an International Representative, and elect our future representatives. You will learn how to plan service projects and stay involved after you graduate. Your creativity will come in handy with our assortment of service projects that will touch a variety of lives. If you have not attended a district event, the Texas-Oklahoma District Convention is the event for you! It encompasses all that CKI is about - service, fellowship and leadership.

By: Kristin Mattingly (District Events Chair)

Students Team Up

To Fight Hunger Students Team up to Fight Hunger. The purpose of STUFH is to put food in the mouths of those who need it most. But the benefits of STUFH are shared by many others.

By asking students to work together, STUFH helps build a sense of camaraderie within the college. By providing students with an up-close example of those less fortunate within their community, they better understand the need for help. And by linking students to their local food banks, it gives those students a sense of community that might otherwise be overlooked during their four years at school. These benefits are also felt by the community at large. Members of the community get to know the college students in their town, and they can help address a pervasive problem that faces each and every community. STUFH is a win-win program for everyone involved. (http://www.stufh.org/)

By: Brittany Ann Reichman (West Texas A & M University

estern w h t u o S h it w p U Keeping University It has been a whirlwind autumn for Circle K International members at Southwestern University! The fall season was kicked off in September with an interchapter service project in San Marcos, TX. In collaboration with CKI members from schools throughout the Hill Country division, the Southwestern University chapter worked with Habitat for Humanity, applying siding to a new house under construction and cleaning up the surrounding yard. In addition to attending Fall Retreat in Denton, TX, the Southwestern University chapter of CKI remained active in the surrounding community of Georgetown, TX during the month of October. Members volunteered at a food tasting of local restaurants, directing visitors and getting a chance to sample some of the food for themselves! The chapter also organized a canned food drive, “Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat.” Fliers asking for canned goods and other nonperishables were attached to paper bags and distributed throughout neighborhoods in the Georgetown area.

By: Jenna Gaska (Southwestern University)

The bags, containing 394 pounds of food, were then collected the day before Halloween and donated to a food shelter at The Caring Place in Georgetown, TX. The month of November saw chapter members assisting the Round Rock Area Serving Center’s Coats for Kids program. Members worked directly with underprivileged children of all ages, helping them to pick out a new winter coat free of charge. The Southwestern University chapter of CKI also hosted a group of highschool freshmen from Upward Bound in Georgetown, TX - a program that provides tutoring and mentoring to students in need of guidance as firstgeneration college-bound students. Freshmen were paired with CKI members as they toured campus and ate lunch in the cafeteria, learning more about the college experience firsthand.

The winter months promise to be just as busy for the CKI chapter at Southwestern University as we continue to uphold our commitment to serving those in need! Look out for an update!

Y L I M A K- F

While there are many service groups in the United States and abroad, the Kiwanis family stands out for many reasons. However, one of its most distinguishing features is that it is truly a family, composed of members at different stages of life. Members interact not only in their own branches, but also with the members of the other branches. This creates a strong sense of fellowship, a well-developed network of servant-leaders, and the chance to create new opportunities for the community at large through collaboration.

In the SETXGC Division alone, the fall semester has provided several opportunities for K-Family Interaction. Toward the beginning of the year, several chapters convened at the Houston Zoo for a landscaping project.

Our chapters also met in Galveston to paint a house. The sense of joint service is matched by the sense of camaraderie. The chapter at Texas A&M has held socials such as a pregame tailgate and a Thanksgiving dinner. Beyond all this, Circle K Chapters from other divisions have extended numerous invitations to meetings and social events, reaffirming that we are all part of the same family of service.

By: Steven Spriggs (Texas A&M University)

CKI also interacted with the other local branches of the family. For one project, the College Station Kiwanis Club held a fundraiser selling fruits and nuts. However, when delivery time came around, many Kiwanians were physically unable to participate.

The TAMU chapter and several local Key Clubs all met early on a Saturday morning to take care of it. In the world at large, it’s a rare site to see people from age 15 to years of seasoned experience working together and interacting easily. For members of the Kiwanis family, this sight is unbelievably common. So what does all this mean? A family is great, but what’s the significance?

The answer is simple. While other groups wax and wane in the tides of time, the K-Family is here to stay.

e k I e n a c t i c r e j o r Hur P n o i t a r o t s Re I woke up early on Sunday, November 22, to go to Galveston with my CKI club. Our newly elected Lt. Governor, Steven Spriggs, had planned a large service project for the division. Only four of our club’s members were able to attend but it was fine because we were collaborating with TAMUG to complete the project.

After navigating through Houston traffic, getting pulled over by a State Trooper, and driving around Galveston for 30 minutes we met up with the president of the TAMUG CKI. We caravanned to the project site together and I was so excited because the house we pulled up too was very rustic and needed a fresh coat of paint. It turned out that the newly refurbished house next to it was the one that needed the paint. The project house we were going to paint had been severely damaged during Hurricane Ike of last year. The house had to be rebuilt and raised on stilts to prevent further damage from future hurricanes.

By: Bregg Reedy ((Texas A&M University)

The goal of the project was to paint the kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms. We broke up into small groups that would handle each room. There were also a couple of people that went around taping the ceiling and base molding to prevent paint from getting into unwanted places. In all, the entire project took about 6 hours to do.

It was difficult at the end because there was no bathroom to use the whole time because the plumbing had not been installed. After the project was finished we headed off to a local Mexican food restaurant that had some of the best salsa I have ever had.

The project was a great way to meet up with old CKI friends and to meet new ones.

I always enjoy doing projects with those Sea Aggies. The project was also a good way for the new Lt. Governor to meet some of the people in his division.

I really enjoyed this project and hope to be doing another divisional project in the next few months.

K e l c r i C s ’ A C D C M w r S o f s d n u F Raises Southwestern Christian College Circle K members pledged their support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Stride and Ride fundraising event during their weekly meeting Thursday.

For Jared Jarrett, an SwCC freshman who has suffered from a central core disease since the age of 11, the club’s participation in the fundraiser is an extremely personal one.

“I guess you could say I’m passionate about it,” Jarrett told Circle K Club members. “A lot of my friends have diseases worse than mine. Many are stuck in a wheelchair or power chair.” Jarrett said one of the main focuses of fundraising is to help researchers find a cure.

“It gives us with Muscular Dystrophy a bright light and hope,” he said.

SwCC Circle K President Lindsey Felder then introduced MDA representative Lindsey Olexi who spoke to the group about MDA’s mission and encouraged students to participate in the fundraising efforts which will culminate at the walk scheduled for Jan. 30, 2010 at the new Cowboys Stadium.

By: Alison Walker (Southwestern Christian College)

“We have several clinical trials. We’re making a lot of strides,” Olexi said. “You can actually see the results of the money you raise.”

Victoria Richardson, another MDA representative, told club members that funds raised by the event not only go toward research, but also provide services for people battling 43 neuromuscular diseases.

In addition, the organization offers support groups for patients and their families, camps for patients, wheelchair ramps and medical equipment such as shower chairs and wheelchairs.

Olexi told the students the University of Phoenix has agreed to award the top three fundraising schools cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200. In addition the top fundraising school will be featured in a special segment which will air on Channel 5 in conjunction with the MDA telethon.

Olexi told the students that the size of their group makes the goal of being the number one fundraising group very attainable.

“Last year I think the top group raised $3,000 so with a group this size, I would be very surprised if you weren’t in the top three,” she said.

Olexi then shared several fundraising ideas with the students and distributed promotional materials such as brochures, posters and collection jars to help them get started.

STAFF

Governor—Monica Caudillo governor@txokcki.org

CONTACT YOUR BOARD!!

Monica

Secretary—Delisa Arredondo secretary@txokcki.org

Editor—Yan Ou editor@txokcki.org

Yan

Bregg

Delisa

Treasurer—Bregg Reedy treasurer@txokcki.org

Membership/K-Family Chair kfamilychair@txokcki.org

Steven

District Events Chair districteventschair@txokcki.org

Kristin

South East/Gulf Coast southeastltg@txokcki.org

Juan

Caroline

Oklahoma/Panhandle oklahomaltg@txokcki.org Hill Country hillcountryltg@txokcki.org

Daniel

LTGS

CHAIRS