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City: Kansas City, Missouri
Club: Liberty, Missouri
Age: 28
Children: 2 “spoiled cats”
Occupation: Eighth-grade social studies teacher
Current Kiwanis position: President-elect of Liberty club, member of the TAG Team for Missouri-Arkansas District
Previous Kiwanis positions: Club president
Other community activities/accomplishments: Cheerleading coach, former Key Clubber, Key Club advisor
Motivation: “I pride myself in creating a new generation of community-service minded citizens.”
Why join Kiwanis: “I joined because I was the Key Club sponsor. I knew what Kiwanis was all about because I had attended meetings as a Key Club member in high school.”
Erin Garvey’s love of Kiwanis is infectious. Maybe she uses her positive attitude (she is a cheerleading coach, after all) to motivate students to join Key Club. Or maybe she just sits back and allows the students to spread their enthusiasm for the club.
Whatever she’s doing, it’s working. The former Key Clubber became an advisor and helped build the Liberty Senior High School Key Club to 160 members, and has been assisting with building a new Key Club in Fort Osage, Missouri. She also started a Builders Club at South Valley Junior High School in Liberty, Missouri, where she teaches social studies. To her, it’s all about getting the next generation excited about making a positive change.
“I was taught the importance of community service at an early age, from my grandparents, who were WWII veterans, and my parents,” she says. “My generation lacks the drive to participate in service. They are ‘too busy,’ or other things are more important. Well, I can tell them a thing or two about being busy! Everyone can get involved; just start out with a small project and work your way up. I hope to impart the importance of service to this generation. I intend to make this generation better than mine, and hopefully more like the ‘Greatest Generation’ of WWII families that sacrificed so much to help others. This year, I have 70 members in Builders Club and 160 in Key Club. I would say they are trying to meet my challenge.”
Liberty Kiwanians are especially thrilled that Erin brought a “breath of fresh air” to their club when she joined in 2003. As one member says: “We love her and want to grow our club with her vision of younger members to help carry on the Kiwanis goals for the future.”
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