Congratulations to Aktion Clubs, Kiwanis International announced in June, that they reached a membership milestone with 12,050 members. Our New York District Aktion Clubs have been extremely busy this year. Many of their activities have been showcased on our Facebook page, please check it out when you have an opportunity at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/NY-District-Aktion-Clubs/230243933653497.
The Holland Aktion Club participated in both the Governor's Project for Autism and in the First Lady's Project to support our troops. The Aktion Club of Livonia recently had a fundraiser dance and cleaned up a local cemetery for a service project. The Nassau BOCES Rosemary Kennedy School Aktion Club made "homemade" Dog Biscuits and then donated them in person to the Town Of Hempstead Animal Shelter. The animal shelter invited the group in to learn a little about the shelter and then take two dogs on a walk on their new walking trail. The Lifetime Assistance Aktion Club of Rochester did a Car Wash fundraiser on July 8.
The Niagara Falls/Lockport Aktion Club held a Beef on Weck fundraiser, which was a huge success and generated more than $750 in profit. They also participated in Niagara Falls County-wide Clean Up. They all met at the local casino and had a continental breakfast before hitting the designated area. Last month the West Hempstead Court Aktion Club made 60 bookmarks for the Kamp Kiwanis Library with the help of their friends from the Hempstead Kiwanis Club. In April they made get-well socks for the children in the NUMC Pediatric ward with the help of the NUMC Kiwanis club.
Members of the FEC/HRW Aktion Club took time to address the fact that the "friction/bullying/anti-bullying" signal is one they certainly related to and wanted to see it being shared with the youngsters at a local elementary school. They have had a huge success with this program. The Buffalo Aktion club recently helped to clean up the Niagara River shoreline in collaboration with Buffalo Riverkeeper. The Brighton Aktion Club participated in the annual Al Lewis Spaghetti Dinner on May 20. All members helped out the Brighton Kiwanis Club with various tasks including distributing trays, drinks, bread and ice cream.
The Nassau BOCES RKS at John F. Kennedy High School Aktion Club did Treats for Troops. They invited a Blue Star Mother to come speak to the club about the importance of sending treats to the troops in Afghanistan. The club then spent the hour assembling bags of treats. They presented three dozen bags of treats to the Blue Star Mom to mail overseas. The Jamestown Aktion Club wrote handwritten thank you notes to community leaders and politicians for the service they do for the community, and made Easter egg decorations and mailed them together with the thank you notes and a brief description of Aktion Club and who we are and what we do.
If you are interested in starting an Aktion Club please speak with me at the District Convention, contact me via email or attend our workshop at the convention and remember to check us out on Facebook.
Column Posted on Web Site July 26, 2014
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