Builders Club

Happy New Year!

By the time you are reading this, we are all well into the New Year. So, how will this year be different? What will you do to make 2011 a better year? How will we in Kiwanis really make a difference this year?

We in Kiwanis are fortunate in that we get two New Years each year! One New Year begins October first. At the start of our Kiwanis New Year, I got a commitment from each of our Lt. Governors, to charter at least one new Builders Club in their division this year. Is your club the one that will really make that commitment a reality? I can not think of anything that can make a more powerful impact on your club and community.

Adolescence is possibly the most critical, pivotal time in a person's life. This is the time period when Kiwanis can be the difference; the difference that builds self esteem, develops positive leaders, provides the incentive to resist peer pressure and helps build and direct the future of the adolescents in your community. Those are the things a Builders Club will bring to your Junior High/Middle School and your community.

Middle and Junior High students believe they are adults and can do anything, only no one gives them a chance to prove it. They are too young to have a job, too young to drive, too old to have a babysitter, but have a lot of time and energy. They need an opportunity to channel their time and energy into positive things, and become the people we all will be proud of. As Kiwanians, we can give them that opportunity through a Builders Club. WHY would any club not want to start one? You can secure the future of your Kiwanis Club by providing the Kiwanis Experience now, to the youth of your community. Start a Builders Club and provide the experience that builds a serving heart, a desire to help others, self esteem and, a link to your Kiwanis Club. You can do all this, or… you can let the opportunity slip through your fingers and enable drug dealers, drugs, peer pressure, computer games and the internet to be the effective influence in the future of the adolescents of your community. 

Think about it! It's time for (the other) New Year's Resolution. Let's resolve as Kiwanians to make the difference in the lives and future of these kids. Let's Build and become involved with our future, a future you'll be proud of. Start a Builders Club! You'll be glad that you did. If you need help in doing this, contact me, Joanne Underwood at 91 Jewel Street, Rochester, NY 14621 or (585) 342-7657. 

Column Posted on Web Site February 3, 2011