Club welcomes family’s fourth president 

Club welcomes family’s fourth president 

Oct 14, 2026 | General interest, Leadership, Service projects | 0 comments

Alex Dawson follows a path his great-grandfather created 95 years ago. 

By Tony Knoderer 

In 1920, Charlie Dawson was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. He became the club’s president in 1931 — and remained a member until 1970, the year of his death.

If you think that’s an impressive record of longevity and leadership, consider this: His great-grandson, Alex, is the club’s president 106 years later. In fact, he is the fourth generation in the Dawson family to be the club’s president — following his great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father, Tom. (See Alex and Tom above in a recent photo. A childhood photo of Tom with his father and grandfather is at the end of this post.)

With such a history, you might think a Dawson-family presidency is a recognized tradition within the club. But Alex and Tom say that each person’s leadership resulted organically from personal commitment — rather than from planning or expectation.

“The presidency was not something that was even on my radar,” Alex says. “But as I’ve become more integrated with the club, it’s gotten to be something I’ve been more comfortable accepting — but it’s not something I would say I ever sought out.” 

A common path to leadership
When Alex first joined the Fargo club in 2013, Tom had been a member for 27 years — and had served as club president in 1999-2000.

The path to leadership was similar for both Tom and Alex, and it’s a common one for Kiwanians throughout the organization: As club membership continues and the Kiwanis connection solidifies, a move into a leadership role seems less daunting.

“I can honestly say that when Alex got into the [club committee] chairs,” Tom says, “there wasn’t any presumption that he should be there or that that’s why he was there.”

There certainly wasn’t any presumption in Alex’s mind. When he was approached for leadership roles by fellow members, he didn’t know what to expect regarding his impact on those roles — or their impact on him.

“I mean, public speaking is not even something that I relished,” he adds. “So, as I got to familiarize myself with the chairs, the presidency was not something that was even on my radar.”

For all four generations of Dawsons, the leadership trajectory has been consistent. Charlie set the precedent, joining the club and then becoming its president more than a decade later. His son, Bob (Tom’s father and Alex’s grandfather), was elected president in 1973 — after having joined the club in 1950.

“There’s no rush to move people into those positions,” Alex says. “The club has always been kind of intentional about leadership, whether it’s the club president or the chair of our pancake event.”   

Family-based memories
Of course, multigenerational membership has resulted in a lot of family-based Kiwanis memories. For instance, that pancake event — the Kiwanis Club of Fargo Annual Pancake Karnival — was a youthful introduction to the organization for both Tom and Alex.

“My early recollections of the club are going to the Pancake Karnival,” Tom says. “I was going when I was 15 — so, going on 60 years now. I remember fairly well the locations and just the whole pancake experience.”

Years later, Alex had similar experiences of the event, which was then held at the local civic center.

“I remember the lines were really long, and you smelled like, I mean, sausage,” he says, chuckling. “And at some point in my teens, I started helping with those (events) — whether it was pouring pancake batter for a little bit or just odd jobs here and there.

“Civic or social service organizations were just something I was exposed to early in life.” 

Family tradition, club stability
As Alex starts his year as president, the Fargo club has a roster of about 80 members and a steady slate of projects and fundraisers. (The Pancake Karnival itself continues to be a signature project, even winning the Group II Silver Award in the 2026 Kiwanis International Signature Project Contest.)

Four generations of club membership and leadership are a proud family accomplishment, but the Dawsons remain modest about its place in history. The significance, Tom says, is what it tells people about the club’s future.

“I think it’s important and impactful for new members to know about legacies in the club — just to know that we didn’t pop up 10 years ago, but that we’ve been going for 126 years,” he adds. “So when it comes to joining the club, they’re just not joining some newfangled service club.” 

More families’ stories
Families within the Kiwanis family — it’s not uncommon! In fact, a previous blog post offers more stories of multiple members in the same club. 

Tom Dawson (center) with his father, Bob, and his grandfather, Charlie (left and right respectively).

Former Kiwanian named Miss USA

Former Kiwanian named Miss USA

Oct 13, 2026 | General interest, News | 0 comments

With the title, Justus Kelley achieves multiple firsts in pageant history. 

By Julie Saetre 

Congratulations to Justus Kelley, a former Kiwanian who recently was named the winner of the 75th Miss USA pageant! Kelley was a member of the Bloomington Kiwanis Club in Indiana, U.S., from 2020 through November 2025. She also served on the Kiwanis International Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board from 2020-22. (Kelley was featured in Kiwanis magazine in 2021. See the photo above.)

As someone who always has shown a commitment to service, Kelley has a fitting Miss USA platform: Foster Footprints, a nonprofit she founded with her husband, Tyler. The organization supports and empowers foster youth and families. One of its key initiatives focuses on donating suitcases to replace the plastic bags many foster children use to carry their belongings from home to home. 

“A trash bag should never be a child’s suitcase,” Kelley posted on Instagram. “Every foster child deserves to carry their belongings with dignity.”

A foster mother of two, Kelley is the first married woman, first mother and first woman in her 30s to win Miss USA. The pageant started allowing married women and mothers to compete in 2023, and the following year expanded its requirements past the previous age limit of 28 to welcome all women 18 and over.

Kelley will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico on November 24.

“I look at this like a responsibility to know that I was trusted to be the first,” she said in a post-pageant news conference. “I won’t be the last.”

Kiwanis history
Kelley began volunteering with Kiwanis as a student at Indiana University, where she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After she became an official Kiwanis member in the 2020s, she won the title of Mrs. Indiana and centered her platform on “Building Inclusive Societies.”

As part of that goal, she traveled to all 92 Indiana counties, visiting grade school classrooms, granting wishes for students as a Make-A-Wish Foundation representative, attending community events and volunteering with local organizations.

Kelley also has organized the Miss Kiwanis Balloon Fest pageant, which determines the official ambassador of the annual Kiwanis Indiana Balloon Fest fundraiser.

Key Club receives Carnegie grant

Key Club receives Carnegie grant

Oct 12, 2026 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, News | 0 comments

US$600,000 will bring more students into Key Club and the GLC Master Class.

By Erin Chandler 

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund has received a historic grant that will support the growth of Key Club International over the next two years. The US$600,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation — the largest ever awarded to Key Club and the second biggest to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund — will fund efforts to charter new clubs in high-growth districts and double the size of the Global Leadership Certificate Master Class. 

Executive Director of Kiwanis Youth Programs Michelle Study-Campbell says, “We are thrilled for the opportunity to expand Key Club International and to provide more opportunities for students across the country. Thanks to the Carnegie Foundation’s investment in Key Club International, more students will have the chance to learn leadership skills through meaningful service — skills that prepare them to be civically engaged and informed community leaders.” 

Growing Key Club
With this grant, Key Club will develop a field-based strategy that will focus on building new clubs in Key Club’s fastest growing districts. The plan will begin with local Kiwanis volunteers working toward the goal of adding 22,000 new Key Club members in two years — enough to conduct an estimated 1 million additional hours of community service.   

Research shows that students who take part in structured service and leadership programs in high school are more likely to volunteer and stay civically engaged well into adulthood, and those benefits grow the longer a student stays involved. Key Club’s own numbers tell a similar story: In the organization’s 2025 survey of members, 96% of students said Key Club gave them meaningful service opportunities, and 89% said it helped them grow as a leader.  

Key Club currently is present in about 15% of U.S. high schools while it continues to expand internationally. That leaves students in over 26,000 U.S. schools without access to the laboratory of leadership that Kiwanis has supported for more than a century. This grant is intended to help more students and communities benefit from the growth, engagement and fulfillment that Key Club provides. 

Doubling the GLC Master Class
This grant will also allow the GLC Master Class to grow from 50 to 100 students per year in 2027 and 2028. Demand for the master class — the in-person culmination of a free, 40-course online program grounded in Key Club’s core values of leadership and service — consistently has exceeded its 50-person capacity at the Key Club International convention.

For each student who takes part in the GLC Master Class, the grant will provide funding to cover up to 50% of convention costs. In the 2025 Key Club member survey, students identified conventions and global service events as among the experiences they most want but have the least access to. This grant will help alleviate the financial barrier to these opportunities. This opportunity will be offered for the first time at the 2027 Key Club International Convention in Washington, D.C.  

How Kiwanians can help
Want to help Key Club reach its goal of 22,000 new Key Club members and 200 GLC Master Class participants over the next two years? Here is what Kiwanis members can do: 

  • Sponsor a new Key Club in a school that currently doesn’t offer the program. 
  • Promote the responsibilities of Kiwanis sponsorship of Key Club. 
  • Support Key Club by making a gift to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. 
  • Spread the word about the Global Leadership Certificate, which is free and open to every Key Club member. 

As always, Key Club’s successful expansion depends on the Kiwanians who support the program. The Carnegie Corporation grant is not just an exciting development for Key Club — it’s an opportunity for the entire Kiwanis family.