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Joining forces
How sharing meetings saved a Key club and re-energized a Kiwanis club
Things didn’t look good for the
Key Club at Richmond Heights High
School in Ohio. The warning signs
were there: desperately behind in
its dues, dwindling membership
numbers, and no faculty advisor. A
warning notice was clear: six months
to shape up—or give up. The club
seemed doomed to lose its charter.
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By meeting simultaneously, Kiwanians and Key Club members in Richmond Heights,
Ohio, share resources, ideas, and energy, as well as meeting space.
Positive partnering
What your club gains by working
with a youth club:
Energy. Young people inject
energy into the Kiwanis club.
Help. More helping hands serve
at all Kiwanis-family projects.
Members. Students’ parents
become prospective
Kiwanis members—and see
firsthand the positive impact
Kiwanians have in the
community.
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But Richmond Heights Kiwanians
didn’t want that to happen.
“The Key Club started in 1967,
and we didn’t want to lose it,” says
Kiwanis secretary James Giarelli.
When the Kiwanians investigated
the situation, they discovered the
high school couldn’t afford to pay the
additional salary required by contract
for club faculty advisors. And the
Kiwanis club was prohibited from
footing that bill. They also found the
Key Club’s meeting time—a 20-minute
lunchtime period—was hardly
conducive to productive planning
and discussions.
Here’s how the Kiwanis club turned
the tables.
Fix the finances. First, the
Kiwanians paid the $3,000 in outstanding
fees and dues and set up a
bank account so it could help the Key
Club monitor its money. “We paid the
dues on a loan basis,” James explains.
“We weren’t concerned about the
money—we were concerned that
kids wouldn’t have the opportunity
to become leaders and serve the community.”
Switch advisors. Next, the
Kiwanians called the Kiwanis
International office to see if it was permissible
for the Kiwanians to serve as
the club’s advisor. Yes, it was.
Meet together. The meeting
space issue proved the easiest—and
most rewarding—to resolve. The
Kiwanians simply invited the Key
Clubbers to move their meetings to
the Kiwanis lodge in conjunction
with the weekly, evening Kiwanis
meetings.
“The Key Club members were
thrilled to join us at our meetings,”
James says. “They’ve gone from having
three to four members at their
lunchtime meetings to 25 or 35 Key
Clubbers each week at our joint meetings.
We’re so happy to have them.
They bring energy to our club and we
help one another with our projects.”
Plus, working so closely with
Key Club members has given the
Kiwanians access to new prospective
members: the Key Clubbers’ parents.
Says James: “They’re our next
Kiwanis members.”—Amy Wiser |
