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City: Atlantic, Iowa
Club: Atlantic
Age: 71
Number of children: 3 daughters; 10 grandchildren; 4 great grandchildren
Occupation: Retired surgical nurse
Year joined Kiwanis: 2004
Current Kiwanis position: Secretary
Previous Kiwanis positions: Secretary
Other community activities/accomplishments: Member and tour guide, Hitchcock House (former underground railroad station); member, Nishna Ferry Boat House restoration committee; secretary, Cass County Genealogical Society; raised more the US$8,000 making and selling jellies and jams for Hitchcock House; transports patients to Omaha, Nebraska, (about a one-hour drive) for doctors appointments; helps elderly neighbors with yard work.
Your motivation? “God gave me a second chance at life, and I am going to do what I can to help others. I have been doing this all my life, and I am not about to quit unless I am no longer able to do so.”
Why join Kiwanis? “I joined Kiwanis because a friend asked me.”
Favorite inspirational quote:
When Berniece Ihrke gets a free moment, she steps into her kitchen, pulls out her pots and pans, and stirs up a fresh batch of jellies and jams, made from wild fruit she picks, rose petals from her garden, dandelions from her backyard, and a popular concoction of bananas, lemons, peaches, and oranges called “Traffic Jam.”
These she sells in the Hitchcock House gift shop, netting more than $8,000 over the past five or so years. Berniece volunteers there, leading tours of the home, which during the mid-1800s served as a station along the United States’ underground railroad.
She brings the same dedication to her role as chairperson of the Atlantic Kiwanis club’s backpack program.
“She spends her own funds, in many cases, to outfit the backpacks with personal and school supplies,” says Atlantic Kiwanian David Hancock, who nominated Berniece as a Women In Kiwanis candidate.
Through Berniece’s leadership, the club packs the packs with soap, deodorant, hair combs and brushes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, clothing, a toy, and books. The packs are given to students from needy families and a family crisis center.
“I’ve had a heart attack, cancer, and hepatitis C from being a surgical nurse,” Berniece says. “When I finished the hepatitis treatments, I promised I was going to do something good with my life.”
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