District Foundation

It's that time of the year. Winter is slowly coming in and the holidays are not far behind.
I'm sure that every one of us, especially downstate Kiwanians, held our collective breath as October rolled in and went out without any vicious storms. Although it has been a year since the devastation of Super Storm Sandy, the effect of it is still with us. There are still far too many people that have yet to rebound from this storm and we as Kiwanians must do all that we can to help.
As I have stated before, we at the New York District Kiwanis Foundation are also still trying to climb out of the effects of Sandy. Last year's camping season was affected because many clubs sent fewer campers due to their resources being redirected to help the victims of the storm and rightfully so.
The Kamp wound up with approximately 100 fewer children than the prior year and it did affect the bottom line of the Kamp finances. We are rebounding, but it's going to take a great deal of commitment by our board and by all of the New York District Kiwanians.
We have started a couple of fundraisers that I would like to tell you about.
Foundation Secretary Dave Rothman, with the help of Gov. Joe Aiello, has put together a car raffle. We will be raffling a Nissan Altima 2.5 S. Only 500 tickets will be sold at $100 each and the winner will be pulled from a drum at Kamp opening in May.
Forbes Irvine, who was the lieutenant governor liaison to the foundation board last year, is also behind a fund raiser that will hopefully raise $100,000 for the Kamp. He is looking to get 100 $1,000 donations from Kiwanians to accomplish his goal. It doesn't have to necessarily be an individual; it can be 10 Kiwanians putting in $100 each, or a club donation to achieve participation in this fund raiser.
I have added the following: If you are already a diamond Kaiser Fellow and you make an individual donation of $1,000, you will become a second generation Kaiser Fellow. You will receive a special second generation pin and every Kiwanian will know that you have been very generous to our Kamp.
We started the second generation diamond Kaiser Program and we already have 10 recipients, I hope that you will think about joining us as an elite member of the Kaiser Fellowship.
In closing, I want to wish every Kiwanian and family a very Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas and the healthiest of New Year. God bless you.
 

Column Posted on Web Site December 29, 2013