Wow! We have been busy!

March was a busy month for us! Not only did we continue the support of our 16 sponsored schools by attending their community service club's meetings, but we also helped out in some new areas. We hosted the Aktion Club meeting for the Wildcats Club in March with a project to color Earth Day books and attach seeds to deliver to Camp Thunderbird. Just in case you don't know, Aktion Clubs are community service organizations for adults with disabilities. Specifically, the Wildcats Aktion club is composed of Adults with Down Syndrome. We then joined 7 other Kiwanis Clubs in the area to clean up Camp Thunderbird - a camp for adults and children with disabilities. Through sweat and hard work, we shoveled mulch, raked leaves, and cleaned the buildings to help make the camp beautiful. We would like to do this same event every year for Kiwanis One Day - which is always on the 1st Saturday of April The rest of April is going to be just as busy! Join us at the Just 1 Book Rock and Roll Street Party on Saturday, April 16th from 4pm - 8pm at the 5 & Diner on East Colonial. We’ll have a booth at the event, and we’ll be hosting a hula hoop contest and musical chairs. In addition, there will be games, bounce houses, U-bot, classic cars, rock and roll, adult beverages, hot dogs, burgers, slushies, shakes....…what’s not to love?? :-) We also have two events on Saturday, April 23rd. We will be joining Just 1 Book for their Easter Egg Hunt from 7am – 12pm at 990 Belvedere Road Orlando Florida. Then, at 1pm, we are going to head over to the Center for Women and Families (639 W Central Blvd Orlando, FL 32801) to hand out Easter Baskets and host an Easter Egg Hunt. Please feel free to join us for either or both of these events.

Division 10 Raises Over $2500 for Juvenile Diabetes Camp

On February 19^th, Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando was host to 200 enthusiastic bowlers from Division 10 Kiwanis, Aktion, Key Club, Builders club and K-Kids. Members of the K-Family from Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties came together for some good old fashioned bowling to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Camp. The over $2500 raised this year will be added to money raised over the past five year to establish an endowment that will provide scholarships for kids to attend the camp for years to come. This annual division 10 bowl-a-thon to raise money for camp scholarships is dedicated each year to the memory of Joe Feith, the charter President of the East Orange County Kiwanis club and long-time supporter of the camp. In addition to awards for the top bowler in each category (noted below), the K-Family traveling trophy was awarded to East Orange County for raising the most money as a K-Family. I am grateful to all the participants for coming together for a great cause. Special thanks go to Dave Schmitt (event chair), Cathy Morino (bead lady), Sid Tally (money man) and the Avalon Park Kiwanis club for helping to organize the event.

Here is a summary of the top bowlers:

Kiwanis Men

Jerry Posey- Seminole Sunrise 185

Dave Schmitt - Avalon Park 179

Chris Kopytko- Avalon Park 168

Kiwanis Women

Nicole Kopytko- Avalon Park 156

Patty McCurdy - Kissimmee 151

Daryl Flynn - East Orange 146

Aktion Club

Jason - Wildcat Aktion Club 109

William - Wildcat Aktion Club 102

Christina - Wildcat Aktion Club 87

Key Club

Lobster - Trinity Pre Key Club 176

Nicholas - Trinity Prep Key Club 169

Pooplas - Trinity Prep Key Club 157

Builders Club

Justin L - Avalon Builders Club 108

Ashley - Esteem Builders Club 97

Fletcher - Trinity Prep Builders Club 94

K-Kids

John C - Waterford K-Kids 117

Samuel - Waterford K-Kids 114

Thomas - Waterford K-Kids 106

Celeste Waterford K-Kids 100 (Girl)

Circle K International at UCF Recognized at State Level

The Circle K International club at the University of Central Florida, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County, was awarded numerous prizes and awards at the Florida CKI 52nd District Convention in Tampa February 18-20, 2011.

K-Family Relation Award 2nd Place

Governor's Project Member - 3rd Place - Ellie Baialieva

Outstanding Club Editor Award - 3rd Place - Sydney Walker

Outstanding Club Treasurer Award - 2nd Place - Robert Draper

Governor's Project Award

Jack Gillrup Scrapbook Award - 2nd Place

Total Club Achievement Award - 2nd Place

Outstanding Club President Award - 1st Place - Ellie Baialieva

Outstanding Chairmen of the Year - Legal Chair - Adler Dehner

Outstanding Secretary Award - 2nd Place - Natchez Hanson

Outstanding Member Award - 3rd place - David Braverman

Most enthusiastic DCON attendee - David Braverman

Governor's recognition Award - Maggie Gilson

Governor's recognition Award - Natchez Hanson

The Kiwanis Club of East Orange County is proud of CKI’s accomplishments and extends its congratulations to the UCF club for another outstanding year!

Circle K International (CKI) is an international collegiate service organization that is a sponsored leadership program of Kiwanis International. It promotes service, leadership, and fellowship. With over 13,250 members, it is the largest collegiate service organization of its kind in the world

Open Hearts Family Services

Around Valentine's Day, love is always in the air. What better way to show love than to help children in need! Open Hearts Family Services is loving children through providing homes for them all year long. Read below to find out ways you can help.

While fostering a child at this time may not be an option for everyone, there are still many ways to share your love with our children:

Donate Resources

~Care for our young ones by donating car seats, strollers, cribs, new or gently used clothing and toys.
~Provide your support to foster parents by donating gift cards or providing skilled services (hair-cuts or braiding, tutoring sessions, music lessons, birthday cakes, etc.)
~Sponsor a day out on the town by donating tickets to the museum, movies, zoo, or other fun family destinations.
~Make a valued financial donation that can help provide foster children with the opportunity to enjoy many opportunities that may not currently be available to them, such as summer camp, prom, athletic programs, recreation, family activities, and more.

Get Involved
~Host an event at your home or business for those interested in becoming foster parents or plan an appreciation event for existing foster parents in your community.
~Provide support and supervision for foster children during foster parent trainings or meetings, agency sponsored field trips, or special events.
~Establish and develop a mentoring relationship with a foster child or parent.
~Become a Community Partner with Open Hearts Family Services and help Open Hearts Family Services connect with your local churches, schools, businesses, and community groups.

Hire a Foster Child
~If you are a business owner or have the responsibility to hire, consider hiring a foster child. Whether the position is permanent or temporary, it gives the foster child a chance to gain hands-on experience while earning an income.

Raise Awareness
~Share with friends and family the opportunity to invite a child into their lives by becoming a foster parent or volunteering with Open Hearts Family Services.Host an event at your home or business for those interested in becoming foster parents or plan an appreciation event for existing foster parents in your community.

Service Leadership Club Spotlight - Sunrise K-Kids and Corner Lakes Builders Club

Sunrise Elementary K-Kids
With the help of their Faculty Advisor, Sally Castrianni, the K-Kids completed two major fall service projects. The first project was collecting gently used books from their classmates. The books were donated to children who attend Catalina Elementary School right here in Orlando. The K-Kids heard about a need the children had for books to read at home, so they asked their
classmates for books to help the children at this school. They collected 1,029 books and delivered them to the school the first week of November. The second service project was the annual collection of food for the East Orange County Food Bank, Thanksgiving Food Drive. The K-Kids collected over 300 pounds of food. This year, they picked ten needy families and gave them boxes of food directly. The food was delivered to the food bank on November 18, by Kiwanian
Jeannette Gabay and coworkers-David Evans and Kristen Childs.
—Jeannette Gabay, Kiwanis Advisor

Corner Lakes Middle BuildersClub participated in many projects in fall 2010 including several food drives, pop top collections, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, a Thanksgiving Basket program, and Breakfast with Santa. The students are interested in getting a web page set up for the club. Their officers also had to write an essay on why they wanted to be an officer in Builders Club and then have it reviewed by a board of staff members before being installed into office. They are also writing letters to a deployed soldier that they have adopted for his tour. The club is looking forward to doing even more service in 2011.
—Sean Osmond, Kiwanis Advisor