Saturday, October 30, 2010

EOC Kiwanis Volunteers @ Winter Park Fall Festival


The East Orange County Kiwanis Club teamed with the East Orlando Club to serve 1000 hot dogs, chips, drinks and Halloween candy (free of charge) to local youth and their families at the YMCA Winter Park Family Fall Festival on Saturday, October 30th. Activities for the entire family included a Halloween costume parade, hay rides, pumpkin picking, bounce houses, art projects, bicycle courses, pool safety education, child ID program and fingerprinting, and reptile petting! A great time was had by all on this absolutely beautiful day. Jeremy Riehl, Prairy Riehl, Jan Henson, Drew Henson (honorary EOC Kiwanis member) and his daughters Anna and Makayla, and Brent, Jennifer and Emma Hambly all participated in the fun. The Winter Park Family Fall Festival was the kick-off event for the Orange County week of family celebration which runs from October 30th to November 6th and focuses on strengthening the community by strengthening families – a great compliment to our Kiwanis mission of “serving the children of the world, one child and one community at a time”!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

OCPS Recognizes our Club

Tonight our club was recognized by the Board Members of Orange County Public Schools. This is what the Board Members said about us:

Many people know Rotary for their efforts to fight polio and Lions Club for their fight against blindness. How many of you knew that Kiwanis' motto was to serve the children of the world one child and one community at a time? Kiwanis of East Orange County serves the children of Orange County in remarkable ways.

We sponsor 18 different "Service Leadership Clubs" in Orange County: K-Kids in elementary school, Builders Club in middle school, Key Club in high school, and CKI in college in Orange County. Think of each Service Leadership club as a small Kiwanis club at each school, but the volunteer projects are organized by the students and their teachers.

Kiwanis supports students in Orange County with the projects that they plan at their schools and in their communities, such as school supply drives, beautification projects, and much more. Currently many of the schools are participating with our second annual Ton o Tuna Drive for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

In addition to service, the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County fosters leadership and provides financial support to the 18 clubs that we sponsor. Key Club members have the opportunity to attend statewide and even international conventions where they develop their service leadership skills and network with students from all over the world who have a similar interest in volunteering. Members of our clubs at all levels also have the opportunity to become club officers and learn how to run meetings and plan events.

Kiwanis of East Orange County wants to spread the world of how great Orange County students and parents are. Many of you may have seen other parents driving around with "My Child is a Terrific Kid" bumper stickers on their cars. Each year, we recognize over 1,500 students with the Terrrific Kids program, which is a recognition program that promotes character development, self-esteem, and perseverance.

Not only do we support the students in Orange County, but we also support the teachers. Every year, Kiwanis of East Orange County also recognizes 160 teachers as "Teachers of the Month" with a restaurant Gift Certificate and bowling pass for their dedication to the lives of children.

The Kiwanis Club of East Orange County is proud to be changing the lives of the children of Orange County, one child and one community at a time.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

K-Family Dinner

Last night, over 150 people gathered at Legacy Middle School as representatives of 10 local schools. We shared a delicious meal, cooked by Jan Henson, while the students explained what they planned for this year as members of their school community service organization. In the Elementary level we call these clubs K-Kids; in the Middle School level we call these clubs Builders Clubs; in the High School level they are Key Clubs, and in the college level they are CKI. These groups have amazing plans for this year as they make a positive difference in their schools and communities. We were also blessed to hear from Liz Callaway about the Paper Retriever Program. Bring all of your paper to a large green and yellow dumpster located at your nearby school, and your school will earn some money while you help the environment. Check out our pictures of the event in the slideshow at the left.

A very big Thank You to Ms. Robillard and the Legacy Middle School Builders Club for hosting this event! You made us feel very welcomed!

Thank you to the schools listed below for being able to attend this important event and inspire us to work hard throughout the year to ensure that you are supported! We look forward to seeing you accomplish great things this year!

K-Kids
Andover
Riverdale
Waterford

Builders Club
Corner Lake
Legacy
Odyssey
Union Park

Key Club
East River
University

CKI
UCF

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

What a great start to an already amazing year!

As you may or may not know, October 1st is the beginning of the Kiwanis calendar year. Each year, a new group of eager volunteers take office to lead the club into yet another great year. Already this year we have been busy! We have attended numerous Service Leadership Club meetings, prepared for our first fundraiser (October 24th - Join us at Congo River Golf), gave almost 100 certificates to local schools for the Terrific Kids Program, participated in the East Orlando Chamber Celebrate Education Day, received 1 new member, and gave 10 certificates to Teachers of the Month. The fall season is very busy for us as we work to support our schools and fundraise for the new year, and yet we have a blast doing it.

I am very honored to be able to work with you this year. With such an amazing Board of Officers and hard-working committee leaders, we will achieve great things this year. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.

Yours in Service,

Prairy Riehl
Club President, 2010-2011