the
T-O T o d a y
Volume 1 | Issue 6
Meet Your 2012-2013 District Board!
LSSP/ICON 2012 in New Orleans! Encouraging Fellowship! Service Partner Spotlight
STUFH
Circle K International develops college and university students into a global network of responsible citizens and leaders with a lifelong commitment to service.
The T-O TODAY
S T N E T N O C f o E L B TA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 12 20 LSSP & ICON . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . le Governor’s Artic . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ts ar rp te un Kiwanis Family Co 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ht lig ot Sp er mb Me Club & . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d ar Bo ict str Meet Yo ur Di . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . te Camp CKI Upda . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e tiv ta en es pr Meet Yo ur Sub D Re . .18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ht . . . . . . . . . . . . lig ot Sp er rtn Pa Service . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . ff -O ok Co ili Ch UT @ Austin’s . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nd Fu The To morrow . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hip ws Enco urag ing Fello 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s te da LTG Up . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ite Un A Night To . . . . . . . . . 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r ito Ed e Letter From Th
Dis trict Goals
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Ser vice Ho ur Goal: 1 5,000 ho ur Interclub G s o a l: 5 0 interclubs Kiwanis Fa mily Relati ons: 250 K ELIMINATE FRs Project Go al: $5000.0 0 3.2 16 % %
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my L e ad e rs h ip InAdiacnaad e 31
Morgantown,
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Howdy T-O! Wow! What a year? First off, I want to thank each and every one of you incredible members that made the 2011-2012 service year one to remember. You made my term as your Governor one that will always be cherished. Though we were a small district this year with roughly 360 members we managed to accomplish over 10,500 hours of service, which is about 30 hours per member. Though we did not surpass our 16,000 service goal, this year we saw one of the highest hour per member ratio Texas-Oklahoma CKI has seen in a while. I can only imagine how many hours we will serve this year when we have more members, and more service opportunities. We also had some major successes with surpassing goals. Back in the beginning of the year, your 2011-2012 District Board set out to accomplish at least 75 interclubs, 175 Kiwanis Family Relations, as well as meet our attendance goals. It is with great pleasure to say that we accomplished all three goals, also seeing record breaking attendance at Fall Retreat, obtaining 185 Kiwanis Family Relations, and shattering our interclub goal by 544% with 408 interclubs! It was truly a year to celebrate, but we are still continuing to grow. This next year a big task for the district as a whole will be to get involved in district initiatives, such as getting members to participate on District committees. With more minds working together on committees, we can create more opportunities to increase our membership, more opportunities to serve, and opportunities to boost Kiwanis Family interaction. Though we have strengthened Kiwanis and Key Club interaction, it is time for our Mighty District to work with our other branches, K-Kids, Builder’s Club, and Aktion Club. With your help in these areas we are sure to take T-O from great to fantastic! But it’s going to be a great year, starting with our first opportunity to represent Texas-Oklahoma CKI at the Circle K International Convention this summer in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is sure to be an awesome time with many other CKI members all over the world, as we come together to serve the city of New Orleans during Large Scale Service Project, and celebrate T-O’s accomplishments during CKI Awards Night. If you have any questions about International Convention, or would like to go, you are welcome to email me at otic@txokcki.org. If you have any other CKI related questions you can email me at my personal CKI account donneshamrollah.cki@gmail.com. Again, thank you for everything you have done to make this past year one full of wonderful memories, and I challenge you to make this one even better than the last. Remember that you all have a legacy to continue that can only be reached when you live out our tenets of Service, Leadership, and Fellowship. Good luck this year, and as the saying goes, “Live to Serve, Love to Serve!”
T-Ogether in Service and a Smile,
Donnesh Amrollah
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Governor’s Article By: Sanjuana Zavala District Governor
It is a privilege and an honor to serve you as your 2012-2013 District Governor for the wonderful states of Texas and Oklahoma. You are in for a treat this year! The district board is composed of amazing CKI individuals that are from all over Texas and Oklahoma ready to serve. I hope that you get to met them throughout district events, rallies, or chapter visits because they are thrilled to serve you! If you are subscribed to our district reflector or any of our social media outlets you were well aware of our district theme voting that was revealed at Weekend Officer Workshop (W.O.W) back in April. Members like YOU were able to log into our district website (www.txokcki.org) and vote! The winning theme for the 2012-2013 CKI district year was SUPERHEROES! Meaning, all of our district events will have superheroes incorporated to its theme. Relating to our district theme, our district project is a mission of a lifetime! A mission of saving lives that is! The district goal has set our goal for the ELIMINATE Project (district project) to raise $5,000 as a district this year by April 2013. Our “T-Ogether we will ELIMINATE” initiative is our project to get involved with the Kiwanis International and UNICEF’s global campaign to ELIMINATE maternal and neonatal tetanus from the world. This is a chance for us to be Superheroes and Save innocent lives from this deadly disease. And we need YOUR help, T-Ogether we can make a difference. Here are already some action plans taken in order for us as a district to reach this goal.
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District Project Club Funds: Chance to Eliminate
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Your club wants to take part in our district project fundraising goal we have an easy way for you to help! If all the clubs of T-O save $150 dollars this year, t-ogether as district clubs you will be raising $2,850 for this cause. If you would like more information on how to fundraise or save $150 dollars for eliminate contact me.
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Half of all profits from each district event will be donated to ELIMI NATE.
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Every time you attend a district event, you will personally contribute to ELIMINATE!
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Many other district efforts will be announced throughout the year to reach our goal! So stay tuned.
Taking part of the district project will make your club eligible to apply for a special award during the 59th Annual District Convention in Irving, Texas. Some chapters in T-O have already started raising money for the district project so don’t let your chapter be left out! Plan a Dance To Eliminate, 5k walk/run, or an Elimin-ade stand! Anything goes! Everyone can contribute to the district project Make sure your President (10th of the month) and Secretary (5th of the month) report every month, in order for us to reach our district goals together every chapter must report! We, the district board, want to know what amazing events, ideas, projects your club is doing and by reporting we get to know them! Once we know we can share with the rest of the district how amazing your club is! During future issues of the T-O today we will incorporate neat ideas and projects that can be done regarding the Eliminate Project. Stay tuned for many of these T-O Today issues this year! I know most of you are starting your summer vacations, internships, classes or jobs this week. Keep in mind to always represent Circle K proudly. Being part of the largest collegiate community service organization of the world is something to be proud of and always a privilege. YOU are the all the game changers, the future leaders of Kiwanis. Above all, don’t ever forget the most important role you have in CKI, which is being a member. So attend those general meetings, smile and recruit new individuals, excitedly attend our district events and SERVE with your heart! Speaking of service, don’t forget to SOAK UP IN SERVICE THIS SUMMER! And have FUN! Any help or suggestions you may have feel free to contact me. Above all, I am a friend to all of you that wishes nothing but the best to all. Yours In Service, Sanjuana Carolina Zavala
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Kiwanis Family Hello CKI, My husband and I live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma which is in the Northeast part of Oklahoma. The Tahlequah Kiwanis club is my home club. As a Kiwanian for ten years, my favorite service project has to be the BUG program because I enjoy seeing the children receive their Bring Up Grades certificates. For 20122013 my emphasis will be on Kiwanis Service Programs especially K-Kids and Key Leader because my hope to get younger children active in volunteerism and help young adults become leaders while increasing Kiwanis membership by inviting their parents and school personnel to join us. My past leadership positions include: District Chair for BUG/Terrific Kids; Administration/Achievement: Division 31 Distinguished Lt. Governor; Distinguished Club President, and club Treasurer. I was honored as the Kiwanian of the Year. Outside of Kiwanis I have served as President of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce; Vice-President of Tahlequah Tourism Council; President of the Cherokee County Civic Cultural Center/The Thompson House; Outstanding member of Leadership Tahlequah Class VII, and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma. If I were a superhero with a super power I would wish to be Mighty Mouse so that I could save the day for the children of the world from hunger and disease.
Kiwanis Governor Ann Wilkins 8
Counterparts! Hello CKI! My name is Brian O’Hara and I am the 2012-2013 Texas-Oklahoma Key Club District Governor. I am currently a Junior and I will be a Senior next year at Manor New Technology High School, just outside of Austin, Texas. I have been part of the K-Family for the last three years and have enjoyed every second of it! From attending UT-Austin CKI events to attending my local Kiwanis club events, everything has been incredible. Besides Key Club I am actively involved in Cross-Country, Track, Ultimate Frisbee, National Honor Society, College Forward and my studies. Throughout High School I have found that your goal after graduation shouldn’t just to be accepted to an amazing college or get a high paying job, but rather it is more rewarding to find something you’re passionate about, something you love, and then do that. I never could have imagined that I would have found this at such a young age, but I truly love service and giving back to the community that gives us so much. My favorite service project was my divisional project last year as Lieutenant Governor. My division raised over 1500 cans and donated them to our local food bank to help prevent hunger in the Austin area. What made this event so great is that we did it with our CKI and we had a CANstruction with the cans we raised. I’m hoping that my Governor’s Project will be just as successful, but on a District wide scale. My Governor’s Project is the B.R.O. Project (Brothers Reaching Out) which will help raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals and promote direct service to hundreds of other hospitals across our District. If I were a superhero, my superpower would either be to read minds or to have the ability to go without sleep. First off, reading minds would give me the ability to hopefully diffuse situations or just avoid them altogether if I knew how people truly felt. And I mean how many of you wouldn’t want to read people’s minds? It would be great....but not quite as great as being able to forgo sleep! Obviously for Key Club reasons and given my health would remain the same. If I had a few more hours each day, I would be able to do so much more! As Governor, I have many goals, but they all go back to strengthening the District - the entire District. This goes for CKI and Kiwanis just as much as it goes for Key Club. So I am committed to educating my members about CKI so they can go on and join your clubs hopefully after graduation. Through service and each of your clubs reaching out, I am confident that we will grow stronger together! I look forward to working with all of you this upcoming year!
Key Club Governor Brian O’Hara 99
The Texas A&M Galveston chapter of Circle K has been busy with service projects throughout the year. In meetings members have made dog chew toys out of old t-shirts, and made no slip socks with puff paint for the children hospitalized at UTMB. Outside of the meetings the club has actively involved in many community events such as Oktoberfest, Mardi gras, and Texas A&M Galveston’s community wide service day called Big Event. Big Event was the biggest service project of the spring semester, club members worked together to plant a new flower garden and vegetable garden for a women’s shelter on the island. The club has also been volunteering at the League City animal shelter once a month, and at the Ronald McDonald House once a semester cooking dinner and providing an activity for the children staying there. Club members joined together with the Texas A&M crew team for the spring semester fundraiser, in which members helped keep an eye on floats for the Krew of Gambius’s parade.
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Club Spotlight
! a n e l e Meet S Selena Frei was in Key Club for two years and has been in CKI for one year, where she holds the title of club Historian. She currently is a sophomore majoring in Marine Science attending Texas A&M University at Galveston. Her most memorable moment while being in CKI is walking along the floats at the Mardi Gras celebration. Selena believes that what distinguishes Circle K from other organizations is the that CKI is a nonprofit organization that focuses completely on helping others through volunteerism. Her favorite quote is “Gentleness, self-sacrifice, and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.�
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
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Meet Your New
My name is Paul Rizk, and I am the Southeast Texas/Gulf Coast Lieutenant Governor. I go to Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. I am a Chemical Engineering Major with a Pre-Med focus. My favorite color is usually, blue, but it varies. My favorite quote is “life happens.” I don’t know if someone famous said that, but I like to live by that quote. Life hardly ever goes the way we like, but it happens and we can’t change things in the past. In light of our district theme, currently my favorite movie is “The Avengers.” Some other things I am interested in are playing Rugby at Lamar. That takes up a lot of my time, but in the short spurts of spare time I have, I like playing settlers of Catan, reading, and playing piano.
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Hey Everybody! My name is Amara Lee Garza. I’m the 2012-2013 District Events Fall Retreat and Camp CKI Coordinator. I currently go to St. Edward’s University where I am studying Biology, I want to become a marine biologist. I’m going to be a Senior this year. My favorite quote is: “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do” from my favorite song ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay. My favorite color is Aquamarine and my favorite superhero movie of all time is a tie between Captain America and Thor.
I’m Kelsey Zerkel and I am currently a Junior studying Child Development and Learning and Psychology at the University of Texas at Dallas! My favorite quote is “Live Your Truths” and I try to conduct my life in a fashion that mirrors those words. My favorite colors are neon orange and lime green! My all-time favorite superhero movie is Iron Man (because, secretly, I am Iron Man). I love (and enjoy spending my time with) my family and friends and my five pets: Izzy, Spazz, Reeze, Kitty Chezney, and Boyfriend. I love sports, playing and watching, my favorite sport is volleyball and I love coaching my little 15 year olds. I enjoy the outdoors and hiking and bike riding and all that jazz. I love music, any and all types, my favorite artist is Elvis Costello and my favorite song is ‘Missy’ by the Airborne Toxic Event! I also love to volunteer and serve my community and the K-family in any way and all ways possible! My favorite service projects involve helping children directly and indirectly. I really look forward to this year at Texas-Oklahoma District and cannot wait to make a difference in our community and in our K-Family!
District Board!
Hey everyone! My name is Jonathan Lacaba and I am currently your 20122013 District Events District Convention Coordinator. I am currently a senior at Oklahoma State University majoring in Public Relations and Russian. I am from Tacoma, Washington, and I love unique hats. My favorite super hero is Green Lantern. An interesting fact about myself is that I once ran a half-marathon!
My name is Taylor Martinez. I am a junior at the University of Texas at Dallas. My major is pre-med neuroscience. My favorite quote is “Find your passion and live for it” because I feel you can never find happiness until you live for something you are passionate about. My favorite colors change often, but as of now it is purple and red. My favorite superhero movie is Transformers. My favorite animal is a Lion. If I could travel anywhere in the world I would want to go to Ireland. I have a dog named Nala, whom I love with all my heart! I am involved in multiple organizations on campus such as; Cause & Action, Molding Doctors, and part of the OTM (Orientation Team Member) Team. One of the greatest feelings in my opinion is helping others and seeing the difference, big or small, you have made in someone’s life.
My name is Allison Prisco, and I am the 2012-2013 OKPAN LTG! I am a fifth year accounting major at Oklahoma State University. My favorite color is pink (though orange is a close second!) I enjoy reading, listening to music, cheering on my cowboys, and of course, volunteering in my spare time! My favorite quotation is “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open,” written by J.K. Rowling, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore . I absolutely love Harry Potter and Justin Bieber. My favorite superhero movie is Iron Man! Robert Downey Jr. is perfection as Tony Stark, and his Iron Man suit is genius.
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District Board
Hey Y’all :]] My name is Cortney Ferris and I am currently serving you as the Lieutenant Governor for the Hill Country Division. I am a Junior at the University of Texas, and am presently on my way to obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. I love neon colors, but my favorite of all is purple! Apart from school, work, and of course CKI, I love photography, playing tennis, shopping, and hanging out with family and friends! Out of all the superhero movies that I have seen, I would have to say that Spiderman is my fave! I love the cute little romance between Mary Jane and Spiderman! :]] Till next time, I leave you with my favorite quote: “Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars!” Peace Out my lovelies! –Cortney aka CoCo!
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My name is Suneet Flora and I am your 2012-2013 District Treasurer. I am a junior at The University of Texas at Dallas and double majoring in Biology and Business Administration. I am also Pre-Medical and will be going through the admissions process in the Spring and Summer of 2013. My favorite colors are red and blue, and my favorite superhero is batman. My favorite quote is “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” ~Mahatma Ghandi. I have been a part of the K-Family for 5 years now, and this quote speaks to me even more now than it did before. I want to become a doctor so I can make a difference and help others. I want to make a change in medicine. We can all hope for things to change, but unless we do something about it now than nothing may ever happen. I have learnt this through Kiwanis. I knew there were big issues in the world and I never knew how to help. By donating money, I am helping mothers and their babies fight Tetanus; by spending time with abused dogs, I am able to help them gain trust in humans again. I hope you are as excited for this year as I am!
Hey Everyone! My name is Fabian Fernandez and I am your 2012-2013 District Editor! I am currently a Junior at the University of Texas @ Austin studying Photojournalism! My favorite color has to be either Electric Blue or a bright Orange. In case my major hasn’t given it away, I LOVE taking pictures. Chances are I’ve taken one of you at a District Event. I love capturing memories with my Canon EOS. Other than photography, I’m a big movie nerd and currently cannot wait for the “Dark Knight Rises” movie to come out! I’m also looking forward to “The Amazing Spiderman!” My favorite quote is “The worst mistake anyone can make is being too afraid to make one.” I personally always make mistakes, and this quote always reminds me that its okay! :)
Continued
Hey Everyone! My name is Jackie Vela and I am your 2012-2013 South Texas Lieutenant Governor. I am currently a Chemistry Major at the University of Texas Pan American. My favorite summer food is Sherbet Ice Cream and I absolutely love wearing Pajamas! :) My favorite color is Yellow and my most played song is ‘Immortality’ by the Bee Gees and Celine Dion. Hands down, my favorite superhero movie of all time is “Batman!” My favorite quote in life is “The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.”
My name is Nathaniel Vasquez and I am your Laws and Regulations Committee Chair. I currently go to Austin Community where he I plan to get my Associates degree in business and then transfer to a 4 year university. I enjoy being outdoors especially when I get a chance to run the local Austin greenbelts. When I’m not outside running or in school, you would catch me reading any type of nonfiction literature. Fiction books make me sleepy. My favorite colors are red and black. If I could pick anywhere in the world to live, I would pick somewhere where there are nice views of mountain areas. My favorite Superhero movie is Iron Man.
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Texas-Oklahoma Circle K International 3010 West Park Row Suite 100 Pantego, Texas 76013 News Release For Immediate Release June 19, 2012
For More Information, Contact: Amara Garza or Jonathan Lacaba districtevents@txokcki.org
Camp CKI canceled for summer 2012 Puyallup, Wash. – After careful consideration among the administrators, governor and planning committee of Texas-Oklahoma Circle K International, Camp CKI is canceled for this year. At this point, it will be very difficult to recruit an adequate number of participants and organize an all-inclusive conference within budget guidelines. Camp CKI is a summer event to outreach Key Club seniors and recruit them into CKI. It was scheduled to be in the Texas Hill Country area during a weekend in July. The T-O CKI board will focus on the rest of the year’s events, Fall Retreat and District Convention.
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D n o i g e r b u S r M e e t Yo u : e v i t a t n e s e r Rep
Lauren Perkins!
School: West Texas A&M University Major: Communication Disorders Year: Super Senior Color: Pink Favorite Quote: “Just be good everyday, and be nice, and people will love you. That’s what K Kids means to me.” Superhero Movie: The Incredibles Favorite ICON/LSSP memory: LSSP: I really enjoyed painting the mural in the hallway that connected the children’s hospital to the main hospital in St. Louis. The staff was so grateful and so great to work with and the mural was so cute! I know it made that trip to the main hospital to do those scary tests a bit more enjoyable for those kids. Top 3 reasons why everyone should attend ICON/LSSP: o You get to have a say in who will be representing you during the next CKI year and get to determine what changes will be made to the bylaws. o LSSP is a very unique opportunity to show people what CKI can really do. We really know our service and are so dedicated; it is always good to share the Kiwanis family with an entire community! o To see me! And Sanjuana! And make new friends from all over the United States and the world! If you can have one superpower, what would it be and why?: I don’t really like the idea of superpowers because I like that everyone is different and everyone is special. But I guess I would like the ability to control people’s emotions. I am a very emotional person anyways, so if I could make sure everyone was happy and non-confrontational so that we could all be happy together.
Words from International: Hello T-O! It is almost time for the Large Scale Service Project (LSSP) and International Convention (ICON)! We are so excited, with projects ranging from a build with Habitat for Humanity to a mural at the local children’s hospital for the March of Dimes at LSSP, and guest speakers like Lauren Potter from Glee and awesome educational (and fun!) workshops at ICON, we are ready to see you in NOLA! It isn’t too late to register! So, are you ready for some Big Service in the Big Easy?! See you in NOLA!
Lauren Perkins
Live to serve, LOVE to serve,
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Service Partner Spotlight:
STUFH
Students Teaming Up to Fight Hunger
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What is the STUFH? Article by Allison Prisco of OSU
STUFH (Students Teaming Up to Fight Hunger) is the service partner that the Oklahoma-Texas Panhandle Division will be focusing on this upcoming year. STUFH is an initiative that helps to not only bring awareness about hunger here in the United States, but also works to help end hunger in our country. According to the statistics on stufh.org, 14.7% of households in the United States experience food insecurity. STUFH’s initiative is to help provide food to these families in need to fight malnourishment and health problems. Another great aspect of STUFH is to provide students with a sense of community, and that even they can do something to help fight hunger. There are a variety of different projects that your home chapter can participate in to support STUFH! Holding a food drive at the end of the semester for students to donate food items from their dorm rooms, holding a “CANpetition” to collect canned food goods, or visiting a local food bank to pack food boxes to be sent to families are all great ideas to help your home chapter get involved with STUFH to help fight hunger! For more information, visit www.stufh.org.
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UT CKI’s 17th Annual Chili Cook-Off! Article by Mayank Patel of UT CKI
You bet your big On the day of the pepper I was at the event, teams competed 17th Annual UT CKI against each other to see Chili who could make the best FromCook-Off! the UNICEF Website:
as St. Edwards University,
chili. There were fun ac-
lege, and UT-Brownsville.
tivities, music, and conces-
We also had a number of
sions available to enjoy.
surrounding Key Clubs and
West Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University, Austin Community Col-
Kiwanis clubs come out to support our event.
The club is proud to
announce that they donat-
ed $750 to the Children’s
This is one of UT’s
largest events of the year
Miracle Network! We look
forward to next year’s!
benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-
profit
organization that
to give a special thanks
raises funds for more than
to all the CKI clubs that
170 children’s hospitals.
were able to attend, such
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The club would like
Cortney Ferris (Pictured) adds Chips to her Chili at the UT CKI’s 17th Annual Chili Cook-Off. 19 13
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! d n u F w o r or
m o T e Th This year our chapter decided to take advantage of the Tomorrow Fund Grant that we have available to us through International. Our members are very enthusiastic about working with children and we have mentored local elementary and middle school students for several years through two different programs. This is an interest shared by our sponsoring Kiwanis club, Sun City Georgetown. In addition to supporting us and several Key Clubs, they have a BUG (Bring Up Grades) program and
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Article by Nora Maus,
Past President of Southerwestern CKI
a children’s literacy program. When applying for the Tomorrow Fund Grant, we realized that a new project likely wouldn’t have as great of an impact as what our Kiwanis Club was already doing. We applied for a $650 grant to purchase books for 10 classes of kindergarten and first grade students as part of the literacy program with Kiwanis.
a home without any children’s books. This project is so valuable because it attempts to bridge educational gaps between these lower income children and their peers.
We were fortunate enough to receive the grant for the requested amount and were able to purchase 207 books for under $650 through an organization called First Book. First Book is a non-profit that has pro Many of the students vided over 90 million new books to programs serving reached by this program school children in need. don’t own a book by the time they reach elementa- They are able to sell books well under retail ry school and come from
price to organizations like CKI and Kiwanis to be given to children. I highly
value of a single book to elementary students.
In the two classes recommend them as a that I read to, I asked resource for other clubs the students if they liked looking to do similar reading and I received projects. the most enthusiastic re Once the books were sponse – I actually had to ask them to let me purchased, CKI members went to five area elemen- begin reading or they would have talked about tary schools, along with books forever. It was our Kiwanis Club, and so refreshing to hear a read to each class and then surprised them with unanimous love of reading for these bright and entheir own books. ergetic 5, 6, and 7 year Members who were olds. able to participate in In our Tomorrow reading had a great time and were able to see the Fund Application, we decided that we would
measure success in books distributed and the response of students. In this way, our project was a huge success. The students were able to take home a book of their very own to read with their families and our club grew closer to our sponsoring Kiwanis Club through the joint project. We’re so thankful that the Tomorrow Fund gave us this opportunity and I encourage other clubs that I have never applied before to consider it! :)
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KEEP CALM AND
ELIMINATE To get more information you can go to
http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/theELIMINATEproject/home.aspx
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Encouraging
s i r r e F y e n t By C o r According to our lovely Gov-nuh Sanjuana, a CKI social must meet these 4 requirements: • Planned Event • Have at least 5 paid members present • Last at least 1 hour • Your entire chapter membership must be invited
Now that you know the requirements, you might wonder how to actually get the mem-
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bers interested in these social events.There are three things that I would suggest in order to encourage fellowship in your Circle K International Chapter at your school: 1. Make everyone feel wanted. Before each meeting, socialize with your chapter. For those of you that have seen The Help, you might remember the quote “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” Make everyone feel important. People want to be a part of something where they feel needed. If you can do that, you will have them hooked.
F e l l ow s h i p ! : )
2. Continue to cherish one another. Don’t just make the before-meeting socialization a onetime event. Do that every meeting. If you know that another member has an exam, send them a text wishing them good luck, or send them a post-exam text asking them how it went. It is always nice to know that people care. You want to be able to genuinely tell your fellow members, “You have a friend in me!” 3. Those who play together stay together. Go out and do things! Something as small as having lunch together builds up the fellowship
needed to build friendships. Before you know it, the people you meet in your chapters will become some of your closest friends! ☺ It may be summer time, but keep this is mind when recruiting new members. It was because of the members I met during my first experience with Circle K, that I decided to join. When thinking about ways to encourage fellowship in your own chapters, remember the first experience that had you hooked on Circle K! Remember how you felt, and try to make your members feel that same wonderful feeling! :)
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l a n o i s i LTG Div ! s e t a d p U Hill Country! The Hill Country Division is off to a wonderful start! As of May 25, 2012, we have 5 active chapters. Those chapters include Austin Community College, Angelo State University, Southwestern University, St.Edwards University, and The University of Texas at Austin. There are two schools who are trying to recharter clubs, and those include Texas State University and Baylor University. Texas State has submitted their registration papers to the school, and we are waiting for confirmation. Everyone cross their fingers for a quick recharter! For this year, I put forth a goal of reaching 5,000 service hours for our division. We are well on our way, and I hope that we all continue to help reach that goal! Live to Serve, Love to Serve!
Red River Metro! The Red River Metro Division is doing extremely well. Southern Methodist University has officially chartered and is getting things settled within their club. Southwestern Christian College has continued to maintain a high membership and is involved in numerous service projects. The division has high hopes of charting new chapters this year at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas. Three members from University of Texas at Dallas were elected on the district board and staff for the upcoming year. Suneet Flora is the District Treasurer, Kelsey Zerkel is District Secretary, and Taylor Martinez is the Red River Metro Lieutenant Governor. Also, the University of Texas at Dallas chapter was given a recognition award club patch from Governor Susan for being an outstanding Kiwanis CKI counterpart volunteering at Kiwanis district evens and supporting the Shoes for Orphan Souls project. As the spring semester has come to an end, chapters are settling in and planning for the upcoming school year. This year we hope to bring our division closer by scheduling socials and division service projects. Also, as a division we plan on working towards meeting our 2012-2013 District Goals.
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Southeast Texas/Gulf Coast! The Southeast Texas/Gulf Coast division has big plans for the year. The first PCM of the year will be in our division this summer. June 10th at Lone Star College CyFair Campus. It’s going to be a great way to meet Key Clubbers and Kiwanians. Our Governor has made our divisional Service Partner the ELIMINATE Project. Try to gear a lot of your fundraisers toward the ELIMINATE project. We have a great opportunity to make a difference in our world with this initiative. The club that does the most will get recognized for its efforts. This year, I hope to bring strength and numbers to the division. I have been trying to charter clubs at Lone Star College, Cy Fair Campus, University of Houston, and Texas Southern University. Hopefully, the southeast Texas/Gulf Coast Division will be a large part of the great T-O District this year.
Oklahoma/Panhandle! OKPAN Divisional Update: I am happy to announce to the district that we have a new chapter to welcome into our T-O family! Northeastern State University, located in Tahlequah, OK, has just recently chartered a CKI. Their president, Jake Proctor, along with several other members, is excited to be a part of our amazing family, and I cannot wait for them to get better acquainted with the district as a whole! I am also happy to report that our other wonderful OKPAN chapters (Oklahoma State, University of Oklahoma, West Texas A&M, and Texas Tech) are all doing quite well as summer begins! There is a lot of great service going on in these chapters. WTAMU volunteered at their local Ronald McDonald House. NSU volunteered at a local festival in their hometown. OSU picked up trash along a street Texas Tech volunteered at an event aimed to encourage children to read at a local bookstore. OU attended Relay for Life and Big Event on their campus, as well as volunteered at a local food bank. I am pleased with the work done thus far! Thanks OKPAN, and I look forward to a great year with you all!
South Texas! The South Texas Division is up to a great start! In our first month of service two chapters, UTPA and UTB, teamed up to work with our designated service partner, the March of Dimes, and volunteered at their March of Dimes. Being that it is summer and all, sadly, some of our members are away vacationing but the ones who are still here are still on fire for doing service. But the main concern for these South Texaners seems to be recruiting new members to join us and fundraising for Fall Rally. I would like to spotlight the UT-Brownsville Chapter for turning in both their President and Secretary MRFs first each month and for having the most hours to date! If you see these lovely people make sure to give them a big hug and a pat on the back for their passion and dedication. Remember, that South Texas always sends its love to you guys!
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! e t i n U o T t A Nigh Article by Danielle Landrum of OU CKI
Each year, Circle K hosts a LSSP-a Large Scale Service Project. This project is designed to benefit one of our four partner organizations, as well as let the campus know who Circle K is and what we are about. Last year, we decided to host a fashion show, which would raise money and awareness for the Horn of Africa. We had 25 models from seven different sororities participate, as well as had a large assortment of food and raffle prizes to be auctioned off at the end of the event. All proceeds collected that night would be benefitting UNICEF, specifically the Horn of Africa relief. The Horn of Africa indicates the countries in Africa that are most affected by the drought. These include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Millions of people are being affected by this drought; men, women, and children alike. Shocking statistics shown in UNICEF’s new report ‘Child Alert: Horn of Africa,’ state that those affected most are children. In a powerpoint slideshow that ran the duration of the event, students became more aware of the need for funds to the Horn of Africa. Affected by the drought is 12.4 million people and counting. It is said to be the worst drought in 60 years, and $2.4 billion in funds are needed thus far to rebuild the country. Statistics show that 1.5 million children die every year from drinking polluted water. This means that children die from drinking bad water more than they die from war. Circle K wanted to raise awareness across OU’s campus for this current cause. With that, “A Night to Unite” was born. Twenty-five models agreed to participate in the fashion show portion of the event. Seven different sororities were represented. Clothes were borrowed from Dilliards, Sears, and JC Penney at Sooner Mall. Though models had to provide their own shoes, recent Beauty School graduates styled all of the models’ hair and make-up. The models looked so chic in their outfits, and with our charismatic emcee,
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the night got off to a great start. Each model was able to debut their outfit down the runway, strike a pose at the end, and make their way backstage. Each model seemed genuinely excited to participate, and were telling members of Circle K before the show that they had told all of their friends about “A Night to Unite.” It was encouraging to know the models were as excited as we were for the event to take place. Throughout the duration of the event, students could meander over to the food table, where an array of yumminess greeted you. Mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, brownies, cookies, and an assortment of drinks were made plenty. The raffle booth displayed the different prizes one could win. Tickets could be purchased 1 for $1.00 or 6 for $5.00. At the end of the event our emcee read off who had won the prizes. Though not everyone who bought raffle tickets won, all waited with great anticipation as each number was read on their ticket. All Circle K members, clad in business casual attire, were required to attend. Some helped with the raffle booth while other took tickets at the door. Door greeters directed students to their spots. Others helped the models, placing them in order, cuing them when it was their turn to go. Others helped with our fashion show music. Around fifty people came out to support UNICEF that chilly Thursday night, November 10th, 2011. Over six-hundred dollars were raised for the cause. All in all, Circle K was very pleased with the outcome of “A Night to Unite.” So pleased, in fact, we decided we are hosting the event again next year! We hope that in years to come, “A Night to Unite” will be more and more successful, creating a fun and energetic way to raise money for a great cause! This year, “A Night to Unite” will benefit The Eliminate Project. The Eliminate Project seeks to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus, a dead-
ly disease that steals the lives of nearly 60,000 innocent babies and women each year. Tiny newborns suffer repeated painful convulsions and sensitivity to light and touch. Kiwanis International has partnered with UNICEF to combat this. In doing so, they need immunizations, which requires numerous things; vaccines, syringes, safe storage, transportation, staff, and the like. According to The Eliminate Project website, it will take $110 million to save the lives of these babies and their mothers. UNICEF and the Kiwanis family needs our support to help make this happen. Our event will take place Wednesday, October 24th, 2012. Though we have the same room, catering, and layout, OU CKI is excited that this year, “A Night to Unite” will be even bigger than the year before. Why, you ask? We have been granted Speakers Bureau funding through OU to allow a speaker from UNICEF or Kiwanis to come speak to us on behalf of The Eliminate Project. We feel this is very important and will be beneficial to all of the audience members. They can now not only have a fun time enjoying good food and supporting their friends strutting their stuff on the runway, they could also see exactly what their money was going towards, and why it was so important to host this benefit night. We are also looking into getting an OU football player to emcee our event. The Sooners love (and when I say love, I mean love) football. By having a football player emcee the event, we will have a bigger turnout, and more students on campus will know about The Eliminate Project and how exactly they can help in its endeavor to stop the death of babies and mothers once and for all. OU CKI is excited to be hosting “A Night to Unite” again, and are already in the planning stages of this Fall’s event. We cannot wait to finalize all of the additions to this year’s night, and know that “A Night to Unite” will be a night to remember!
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what’s the best day to go to the beach? Sunday!
How do you prevent a summer cold? You catch it in the Winter!
what do you call a witch at the beach? A Sandwich!
what did the ocean say to the other ocean? Nothing, they just waved!
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T-O’s Special Thanks Great Job Cortney for stepping up to lead a workshop during WOW and for always being a great asset and friend to your division. Wonderful to see servant leaders like you in T-O! Keep on Servicin!
Thank you Allison for being an extraordinary club president!! It was great to meet you at W.O.W. I can’t wait to see what this year brings for Lamar CKI! Keep up the wonderful work! :)
And the T-O family just keeps getting BIGGER! We would like to welcome our newest charters Circle K Club at Schreiner University in Kerville, TX and the Circle K Club at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Ok!
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! r o t i d E e h T Letter From Hello Texas-Oklahoma! I hope everyone is as happy as I am that Summer is officially here! Even though my Summer so far has been filled with both school and work, I still manage to find time here and there to go tubing the river with friends or going to Disney World with my family, which by the way was awesome! Now, I’ll be quite honest and admit that I have not endured in much Volunteerism so far this summer. For many, myself included, people see this time as a break from regular school semesters and a break from CKI. However, it is the duty of ourselves to continue to foster compassion and goodwill toward others through service and leadership. I encourage every one, including me, to search for ways to help those in need. We may be on Summer vacation, but for many people in the world there are no breaks.
Sincerely in Service,
Fabian Fernandez T-O District Editor
If you have anything you would like to see in “The T-O Today,” please feel free to email me updates or photos of your chapter to: 34
editor@txokcki.org
Have a great Summer!
Sanjuana Zavala
Paul Rizk
Kiwanis Family Relations Kiwanis Family Relations K-Kids/Builders/Aktion Key Club/Kiwanis
Neal Wright
Jace Venters
Patra Kositchaiwat
Valerie DelaRosa
Donald Aaron
District Events
Membership/ Laws and Regs
Public Relations & Marketing
Denise Gonzalez
Chris Hester
Fabian Fernandez
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