University of Houston
Volume 3 | Issue 1
Sept/Oct 2018
CONTENTS 03
Pledge & Officer Messages
04
Member Spotlight
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Club Recruitment & Retention
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Event & Project Recaps
08
District Events
09
K-Family Events
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Meeting Recaps
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Bake Sale Recaps
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Service Hours Update
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November at a Glance
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UH Board & District 2 Board
Pledge & Officer Messages I pledge to uphold the Objects of Circle K International, to foster compassion and goodwill toward others through service and leadership, to develop my abilities and the abilities of all people, and to dedicate myself to the realization of mankind's potential.�
Hey y'all! My name is Alex, and I'm grateful to be serving as your president this year! Ever since I joined Circle K, I've been blown away by the passion and dedication I've seen from the students in our chapter and from across the state. Without a doubt, CKI has become my second family, one that proudly serves together. Little by little, I believe that we can continue to make an impact on those around us, and I'm so happy that y'all get to be part of making our own legacy here at UH. In service,
Alex Welcome to Circle K everyone! My name is Glenda Cheng and I am your Editor-in-Training. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know all the new members this year. Whether you were in Key Club back in high school or not, I hope that everyone discovers how meaningful and impactful Circle K is to the communities we help as well as the change it brings to us as members.
- Glenda
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MEMBER
SPOTLIGHT SEPTEMBER
From her first service event, Isabel has been a devoted member. She’s been a reliable member at most of our events, from enduring 8 hours behind the scenes fundraising at our Beyoncé concert event, to being an inviting and energetic person at our bake sales and meetings! Jeff has been in our club for two years now. He’s seen us grow from the beginning, and over the months, he’s integrated himself as a reliable and dedicated member of our club. Whether it’s always offering carpool to our service events (and he lives far!), to voluntarily taking pictures of the members at our events so that everyone feels included, or simply being a nice guy who hangs out with the rest of the CKI fam at our meetings, it’s undoubtable that Jeff is one of our most loved members.
Isabel Hurtado
OCTOBER
If the meeting before Thanksgiving was any indication, “Member of the Month” was something that I was not expecting but am ever grateful and happy for it. Being with Circle K has been such a great experience, and I cherish every event, friend, member, experience, and sassy remark we make. Normally, I am pretty reserved and to myself, but the people I meet through CKI are some of the best, most unique, and dedicated personas to cross my path that make having long conversations frequent or easily bring out my inner sassy loud mouth. Whether we are working on a service project or trying single out a werewolf in a group of thirty, there is a community I found in CKI that is one of the most supportive, sweetest group I have been part of and it makes me even more proud to be named “Member of the Month.” Thank you to everyone, you truly help make a difference both in our UH CK family, and the different community we partake in.”
- Jeffrey Rodriguez
Jeffrey Rodriguez 4
Club Recruitment Retention
&
The first week of September was T-O Recruitment Week! Thank you to all the members, both new and old, who participated through Facebook and Instagram in spreading word about Circle K and what it means to be in it.
We had a blast recruiting at the Metropolitan Volunteer Fair! It was great getting to meet other students united in our passion for service. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hi, and if you met us for the first time there, we're glad to have you join our family!
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SEPTEMBER RECAP STUFH: Students Teaming Up to Fight Hunger
Bake Sale
MON
STUFH Week
For September, we devoted our service project to the STUFH initiative: Students Teaming Up to Fight Hunger. In doing so, we organized the “Feeding Houston” donation drive, placing Houston Food Bank bins around campus for the UH community to be involved. This effort, lasting from August to October 5th, extended to the UH Food Recovery Network, United Muslim Relief, and multiple Key Clubs around the Houston area. We promoted the collection of nonperishable foods to alleviate chronic hunger and food insecurity, as well as to provide a reserve for emergency relief, especially given the Houston Food Bank’s vital role in providing meals to Houstonians following the chaos of Harvey.
Trivia Game/Scavenger Hunt
TUES/WED
We also hosted a competition for the local Key Clubs to see who could collect the most cans. The winner was announced at the Region 12: Fall Training Conference on October 12th and received a $100 prize! (see page 9 to see how many cans we raised!!) On campus, we hosted a “STUFH Week” during the last week of September, with each day featuring a new activity to raise awareness regarding our initiative. We held a trivia contest, bake sale, scavenger hunt, a movie screening of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” volunteered at the Houston Food Bank, and collaborated with United Muslim Relief for their “Project Downtown,” preparing hundreds of sandwiches to distribute to the Star of Hope homeless shelter.
THURS
Movie Night
FRI/SAT
Houston Food Bank/Project Downtown
We hope that everyone who was able to participate in our service project has enjoyed their experience!
In mid-September, we were given the exciting opportunity by Global Medical Brigades to volunteer and fundraise for UH CKI as well as attend Beyoncé's OTR II concert for a really cheap price. Thank you to all the members who participated despite the short notice!
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OCTOBER RECAP Destination Empowerment
October started off with ending the food drive competition we hosted for local Key Clubs during last month, which was part of our September service project and involvement with the District Project, STUFH. (see page 9) Throughout October, we had in-meeting service projects and guest speakers related to our October service project and the Governor's Project, Destination Empowerment. (see page 10) In mid-October, we volunteered at the UH Women and Gender Resource Center’s event commemorating and honoring victims of sexual assault called “Take Back the Night”, featuring guest speakers, a resource fair, candlelight vigil, and a march around campus to bring awareness and stop the silence around sexual assault. UH CKI also participated as a team in a #StriveForSomalia dodgeball tournament hosted by United Muslim Relief. The tournament raised funds to send to Somalia in an effort to help alleviate recent crisis. Finally, we made a PSA with many of our members encouraging people to get involved, educating them about on-campus resources, and as a love letter to survivors, by posting on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and being shared by the Destination Empowerment Facebook page. Video Link: https://bit.ly/2PHphSc
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Take Back the Night was a special night where UH students remember the lives loss to sexual/domestic violence and stand up together to send the strength and love to current victims while spreading awareness. It was truly a touching evening filled with love and support from everyone in the room being able to hear victims' personal stories and being able to learn ways to help victims myself. I had a blast being able to volunteer alongside my new friends or new CKI family whom I've met through the first meeting and bond with them further. That day felt so powerful being able to stand together in an effort to prevent domestic violence from becoming widespread. Meaningful service projects bring me close to my newly-found friends who now mean so much to me.”
- David Nguyen
DISTRICT events FALL RALLY
On October 13th, different Circle K chapters from the Southeast Texas Division met at Lamar University for Fall Rally. This annual district event serves as a great opportunity for UH Circle K members to meet other students that share the same love for service. This year’s Fall Rally was galaxythemed, so UH CKI showed our spirit by participating in the costume contest and dressing up as out-of-this-world characters from Lilo & Stitch. The event kicked off with a small service project where we decorated paper bags for Meals on Wheels. Through this service project and various icebreakers, members from UH Circle K got to bond and mingle with Circle K members from other schools within our division, such as TAMU, Lamar, and TAMU Galveston. We also discussed the progress of each chapter and future district events. The day ended with a round of pictures to remember all of the great memories we’d made. Overall, Fall Rally was such a blast, and I can’t wait to spend more time with everyone at future district events!”
- Alyssa Tran
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K-FAMILY events At the Region 12: Fall Training Conference, we spoke to Key Clubs around the Region 12 area about the importance of being active in service while maintaining a healthy college lifestyle! It was also here where we announced the winning Key Club that raised the most cans for our STUFH food drive.
In total, we were able to raise about 1200 cans for the Houston Food Bank!
In late October, we volunteered at the Kiwanis event, Pedal for Pie in Sealy, Texas, which is an annual bike ride organized by Kiwanis Club of Houston. All proceeds raised were donated to the Eliminate Project, an aim to eliminate Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus. Thank you to everyone who came out early in the morning to volunteer and support bikers in this event!
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GENERAL MEETING recaps During our 2nd general meeting, our Southeast Texas Lt. Governor, Kristen Iannello, came as a guest speaker to talk about Circle K and the TexasOklahoma district.
Kristen Iannello
Thank you Kristen for coming out to our meeting!
Irfana Hussain
Our 3rd general meeting introduced our service project, Destination Empowerment. A guest speaker from Daya, Irfana Hussain, came to talk about sexual abuse and domestic violence awareness as well as more about her organization. Afterwards, we made cards for survivors!
In mid-October, we had our 4th general meeting. Huge thanks to Ashley Griffin, the Director of Sexual Misconduct and Support Services at the Women and Gender Resource Center, for being our guest speaker! Afterwards, our members made pins and bows out of denim as part of our October service project and Governor’s project, Destination Empowerment.
To finish off October on a good note, we turned our 5th general meeting into a Halloween social, which included a pumpkin painting contest and costume contest! Congratulations to Isabel Hurtado for winning the costume contest and Glenda Cheng for winning the pumpkin painting contest! Shoutout to our UH Advisor, Dr. Paige Evans, and Kiwanis Advisor, Harry Watson, for stopping by to meet our members and officers. We got to see so many creative painted pumpkins and interesting costumes from our members that night!
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Ashley Griffin
STUFH Week
2nd Bake Sale
Bake Sale Recaps We started off our STUFH week with our 2nd bake sale of the semester. All profits made were donated to the Houston Food Bank!
Destination Empowerment
4th Bake Sale
Our 4th *Halloween* bake sale was dedicated towards our October service project and Governor’s project, Destination Empowerment. The denim pins and bows for survivors made by our members in our general meeting one week before were also sold at this bake sale! 11
3rd Bake Sale
Thank you to all our members who participated in our Sunday bake sale prep socials, signed up for volunteer shifts, or donated food items. We wouldn’t be successful without you guys!
SERVICE HOURS update
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This November is focused on refugee and immigrant outreach. For every 2 seconds that passes by, someone was uprooted and forced to flee due to violence, conflict or persecution. 68.5 million children, women, and men were forcibly displaced by spiraling crises around the world by the end of 2017. (This is approximately equivalent to the entire population of France.)
It's a Global Challenge. Houston welcomes more refugees than any other American city and more than most other nations. Harris County alone welcomes about 25 of every 1,000 refugees that the U.N. resettles anywhere in the world.
For this reason, our mission is to make an impact on the local level by raising awareness as well as funds for relief abroad.
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11/2 to 11/4 — Fall Retreat at Arlington 11/9 — Rock the Campus with MVP 11/12 — 6th General Meeting / Hygiene Kit Service Project 11/14 — Cultural Explosion 11/19 — Last Bake Sale 11/24 — Houston Pet’s Alive 11/26 — Last General Meeting / Induction Ceremony / Meme Social 11/30 — Our Story! With CHAT
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UH CIRCLE K
Advisors & Officer Board Harry Watson
Dr. Paige Evans ADVISOR
ADVISOR
Email: pevans@uh.edu
Mr. Watson has been a Kiwanis member of the Houston Club for 2.5 years as well as served many CKI positions throughout his younger years.
College of NSM Clinical Professor and Science Master Teacher for teachHouston
Alexander Le
Cecilia Nguyen-Do
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
Major: Honors Biomedical Sciences & Chemistry Email: ale8@uh.edu
Major: Psychology Email: cmnguyen-do@uh.edu
Sammie Chen
Danielle London
Joy Capellan
SECRETARY
TREASURER
EDITOR
Major: Civil Engineering
Major: Chemical Engineering
Major: Public Health
Email: schen46@uh.edu
Email: dalondon@uh.edu
Email: jdcapellan2@uh.edu
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UH CIRCLE K
Committee Chairs
Tram Tran
Karen Garcia
Glenda Cheng
PR CHAIR
FELLOWSHIP CHAIR
EDITOR-IN-TRAINING
Major: Supply Chain
Major: Human Resources & Development Email: kgarcia1357@gmail.com
Major: Chemical Engineering
Management & Management Information Systems
Email: tdtran15@uh.edu
Email: gwcheng@uh.edu
Jose Leyva
Fatimah Abidogun
SERVICE CHAIR
SERVICE CHAIR
Major: Public Health
Major: BioTechnology
Email: Joseleyva0898@gmail.com
Email: onlyzahrah13@gmail.com
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TEXAS-OKLAHOMA
District Leadership
Dylann Lowery
Sean Dempsey
GOVERNOR
DISTRICT SECRETARY
College: Oklahoma State University Email: governor@txokcki.org
College: Texas A&M University Email: secretary@txokcki.org
Kristen Iannello SE TEXAS LTG College: Texas A&M University at Galveston Email: southeasttexasltg@txokcki.org
Lane Marsh
Yahaira Arneros
DISTRICT TREASURER
DISTRICT EDITOR
College: The University of Texas at Tyler Email: treasurer@txokcki.org
College: The University of Texas at Arlington Email: editor@txokcki.org
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Thank You to our members for making these eventful two months filled with love, laughter, and service.
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