Out of 519 contest entries from around the world, this year’s six winning projects brought communities together.  

By Erin Chandler 

Kiwanis clubs around the world brought their communities together over the past year through creative and impactful service, fundraisers and events. On June 26 at the 2025 Kiwanis International Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., Kiwanians gathered to celebrate the best of Kiwanis clubs’ signature projects.  

Out of 519 contest entries from around the world, this year’s six winning projects were notable for bringing communities together, whether for projects that meet an important need or annual events that create joy for everyone. Through coordinated events and ongoing programs, these clubs promoted the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — in innovative ways. 

For contest details, visit the Signature Project Contest webpage. 

Group One (clubs with 27 or fewer members)

Gold 

Kiwanis Club of Stunning Davao — Southern Philippine District 
Nature Warriors: A Kid Learns to Protect Nature  

Through its Nature Warriors program, the Kiwanis Club of Stunning Davao aims to keep the Philippines’ Davao region stunning — by reaching out to its youngest residents. The club partners with the Department of Education to connect with schools in isolated areas that are in critical need of environmental protection. The visiting Kiwanians distribute bags containing school supplies, dental kits and books on nature to the students; install waste segregation stations; and teach kids how to protect the environment by properly disposing of garbage. The program also includes regular coastal cleanups, and soon the club hopes to partner with a turtle sanctuary to give hands-on lessons on protecting marine life. Each child who benefits from the Nature Warriors program brings what they have learned home with them, spreading the word about responsible environmental stewardship throughout the community.   

Silver 

Kiwanis Club of Sydney — Australia District 
Kiwanis Sydney Comfort Care Cases  

Every year, the Kiwanis Club of Sydney raises funds through a cake stall at a local shopping center, a raffle and a silent auction to support children and families through their most difficult times. The proceeds help to make “comfort care cases” for kids facing end-of-life care at Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick. The cases include items like mood lights, scent atomizers, soft toys, pillows and blankets to create a comforting, homelike atmosphere for the children; cameras and art supplies to let families create photos, pictures and hand- and footprints; children’s books that explain the process of death and mourning; teas and coffee for long waits; and other items to help families care for and remember their children. Currently, the club stocks seven cases located in the hospital’s palliative care, oncology, emergency and intensive care wards, and two mobile cases for home visits. Over the past 12 years, Kiwanis comfort care cases have provided solace to 50 kids and families.  

Bronze 

Kiwanis Club of North Suburban, Saint Paul — Minnesota-Dakotas District 
Kiwanis Malt Shop at the Minnesota State Fair  

For 55 years, the Kiwanis Malt Shop has been a must on to-do lists of Minnesota State Fair attendees — and members of the Kiwanis Club of North Suburban, Saint Paul look forward to it every year, too! During the 12-day fair, club members are joined by the Roseville Key Club and community volunteers in dishing up 15,000-20,000 malts over the course of 230 four-hour shifts. A Kiwanian is always available to provide answers to questions — along with Kiwanis information and membership applications for guests to take with them. Each year, the malt shop raises an average of US$114,000, which the club uses to support a cause — such as Key Club, 4-H, student scholarships or organizations fighting food insecurity — which is chosen based on community need. Malt shop funds also have helped establish five elementary school libraries, install a slide in a park for an underserved community of new refugees, build a Miracle League baseball field for kids with disabilities and much more.  

Group Two (clubs with 28 or more members)

Gold 

Kiwanis Club of Birmingham — Alabama District 
Kiwanis Reads  

In just four years, the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham’s Kiwanis Reads program has brought books into the schools and homes of 20,000 children. In this literacy program, Kiwanians visit 900 preschools in Birmingham twice a year to read to students and give each one a book to build their own home libraries. Each book contains a Kiwanis bookplate with a QR code that leads to a video of a Kiwanis club member reading the book aloud — an extra tool to help kids in homes where there might not be an adult available to read in English. This year, Kiwanis Reads received a club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund; expanded into 10 new schools, allowing the club to serve 300 more students; and partnered with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to restart the Books Not Bullets program, providing books for police officers to hand out on patrol. School officials say students are increasing their vocabulary and reading fluency by reading aloud — all while they learn to associate reading with fun.  

Silver 

Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew — Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District 
Ferry Health and Dental Fair  

Not even a tropical storm can stop the Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew’s Ferry Health and Dental Fair. The Ferry community suffers from high poverty and unemployment levels, a lack of running water and the absence of any health center or dental care provider. With help from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, as well as partner organizations that provide equipment, volunteer medical professionals and more, the Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew stepped in. The club’s Health and Dental Fair provides free treatments, screenings — including blood pressure checks, diabetes testing, and HIV/STI testing and counseling — dental cleanings, nutritional counseling and vitamin distribution. Patients are also provided with three months of any prescribed medication free of cost. In 2024, 67 medical professionals worked through the rains of Tropical Storm Raphael to treat more than 3,500 patients over the course of the three-day fair. The effort and dedication have even resulted in 12 new Kiwanis members.  

Bronze 

Kiwanis Club of Brandon — Western Canada District 
Annual Kiwanis Kar Derby  

For the past 35 years, residents of Brandon, Manitoba, have come together to cheer on their kids in the Kiwanis Kar Derby. Some of the motorless, handmade “soapbox” cars in the race have been passed down within families or sponsoring companies for generations — but the club also often supplies cars to children who cannot afford them or who don’t have an available adult to help build them. Around 300 people attended the most recent Derby. Ray’s Fireplace barbecues for the crowd, neighbors give up their yards for parking and soldiers from the nearby army base help move equipment. The event raises an average of CA$13,900 each year, which goes right back into the community. New and old club members love to see the work they do come to fruition — and to see the smiles on kids’ faces as they speed downhill.   

Four clubs received grants for projects that adapt services for kids and families.

By Erin Chandler

In March, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded 17 club grants to support outstanding Kiwanis club projects around the world. The following projects are just four examples of Kiwanians making services that are essential to kids’ development — such as in-depth education, health screenings, transportation and play — more accessible, regardless of a child’s ability or financial resources. 

Academia Kiwanis (Kiwanis Academy)
Kiwanis Club of Impacto 360, Panama
The Impacto 360 club has a plan to transform Panama City’s El Chorrillo corregimiento, where high levels of poverty have contributed to an increase in school dropout rates and juvenile crime. The plan’s first step is to convert a space into an extracurricular center where kids can learn and develop their skills in areas such as art, debate, karate and theater. The project already has the support of the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Culture; a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will go toward renovating the Academy’s space for safety and purchasing necessary supplies for the classes. Club members hope the programs they offer will “grow with each child,” and that Kiwanis Academy graduates will return as volunteers, perpetuating its positive effects in kids’ lives and the community. 

Pediatric Cancer Screening Awareness Program
Kiwanis Club of Dhaulagiri, Nepal
The Kiwanis Club of Dhaulagiri has an ambitious plan to combat childhood cancers in the community — one that increases awareness, access to screenings, and emotional and financial support for kids with cancer and their families. The club plans to introduce its program in the small, rural Melung Village Development Committee in Nepal’s Dolakha District, which is remote from medical facilities specializing in pediatric oncology. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will go toward the management of educational workshops and awareness campaigns that will teach community members the symptoms of pediatric cancers; mobile screening clinics reaching thousands of children; training sessions for healthcare professionals on pediatric cancer diagnosis; support groups and counseling services for diagnosed kids and families; and fundraising events to aid in treatment. The club hopes their efforts will improve health outcomes for kids through early diagnoses and access to treatment. 

iCan Bike
Kiwanis Club of the Horse Heaven Hills, Washington, U.S.
Over the last seven years, the Kiwanis Club of Horse Heaven Hills has partnered with iCan Shine to host six iCan Bike programs, which help kids with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down Syndrome learn to ride conventional, two-wheel bicycles. Over the course of five days, participants attend 75-minute sessions where they, along with three to seven other riders, get individual instruction from a floor supervisor and bike technician. Two volunteer spotters also accompany each rider. The iCan Bike program has a high rate of success in teaching children to ride bikes, which in turn increases their self-esteem, confidence, physical fitness and social inclusion — and it provides an independent means of transportation. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will go toward fees associated with bringing iCan Bike to the club’s community. 

Tactile and Sensory Learning Center for the Visually Impaired
Kiwanis Club of Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Kiwanis Club of Damansara, Kuala Lumpur has a close partnership with the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) — its CEO is even a club member. The two organizations’ next big collaboration is on a tactile and sensory learning center where kids with visual impairments can learn, socialize and play. Club members will research, select and purchase tactile and auditory equipment and toys that will promote learning, exploration and development. The center will have games, musical instruments, braille books and even audiobooks recorded by Kiwanians. A club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will go toward expanding the available space and wiring it for electricity; purchasing furniture, toys and games; and producing Braille and audio books. The club will periodically restock the center, allowing hundreds of children to benefit from its inclusive fun over time. 

More club grant projects
Other projects that received club grants in August include:   

• Inclusive, accessible playgrounds from the Kiwanis clubs of Chena-Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.; Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.; Saint Joseph-Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S.; Junction City, South, Kanas, U.S.; and Blue Spruce, Evergreen, Colorado, U.S. 

• A new basketball court at the Kiwanis Children’s Sunshine Camp from the Kiwanis Club of Butte, Montana, U.S. 

• A weekend food backpack program from the Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas Sangre de Cristo Sunrise, New Mexico, U.S. 

• A back-to-school shopping spree from the Kiwanis Club of Santa Maria, California, U.S. 

• A career exploration program for eighth-grade students from the Kiwanis Club of Litchfield, Minnesota, U.S. 

• New books and bookcases for elementary schools from the Kiwanis Club of Kernersvile, North Carolina, U.S. 

• A book vending machine from the Kiwanis Club of Pooler-West Chatham, Georgia, U.S. 

• Funding to support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in Blount County from the Kiwanis Club of Maryville, Tennessee, U.S. 

• A program allowing Kiwanians and local police to hand out books to schoolchildren from the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. 

How you can help
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund makes grants that improve the lives of children around the world by identifying projects that create a continuum of impact in a child’s life — one that spans their entire childhood and sets them up for a bright future. Through The Possibility Project, the Children’s Fund ensures that its grantmaking has the greatest possible impact, supporting projects that target the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — whether through a Kiwanis club’s local service project or a club’s partner.  

Learn how your club can apply for a grant to help kids in your community. If you are interested in extending your and your club’s impact beyond your community, make a gift in support of The Possibilty Project.