Service that celebrates Earth Day

Service that celebrates Earth Day

Apr 7, 2025 | General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

Let these projects inspire your club to do something nice for Mother Nature. 

By Julie Saetre

April 22 is Earth Day, and that means it’s a great time for your Kiwanis club to do something that’s environmentally friendly. Whether it’s something small but meaningful — a local park cleanup, service at a community garden — or a larger-scale project, let Earth Day be your catalyst. Need some inspiration? Start with these three initiatives. 

Planting for future generations
In October 2024, members of eight Kiwanis clubs from Division 2B in the Philippine Luzon District gathered at a protected area by a local riverbank. Their mission: plant seedlings to prevent land erosion caused by quarrying. 

The Abacan River and Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council Inc., a nonprofit group that promotes water security and watershed conservation, donated 250 seedlings. The Kiwanians planted some of the seedlings near the riverbank with help from students at Del Carmen National High School. Then they donated the remainder to the school, where students and teachers have committed to nurture them. 

Their efforts were part of an initiative started by Philippine Luzon District Governor Felix “Jango” Grepo — with a goal of planting 20,000 seedlings district-wide to ensure a healthier environment for future generations. 

Helping bees thrive
In the Kiwanis Ohio District, Governor Kelly Brown is leading an environmental effort of her own. Brown’s 2024-25 “Bee a Hero” pollinator project encourages each Kiwanian “to be a global citizen on a local level” by helping to shore up declining bee populations.  

Participating Kiwanis members create and maintain native pollinator habitats — from potted plants to large gardens — in their yards, use nontoxic herbicides and pesticides, overseed lawns with low-growing pollinator plants and purchase products from local beekeepers. 

Clubs can get involved by building community pollinator habitats, providing seeds and supplies to local schools so students can create a school garden, and partnering with local organizations to start or help maintain a garden. 

An online project guide contains additional ideas and provides information on other state organizations working to increase the bee population. 

Inspiring young leaders
In May 2024, the Kiwanis Club of Klang, Malaysia, joined in the Asia-Pacific Region’s “Green Generation” by hosting a youth camp for aspiring environmental leaders. Focused on youth leadership development and environmental stewardship, the camp enabled participants to learn sustainable practices and gain hands-on experience through team-building exercises, art therapy, planting 200 trees and other activities. 

The camp was so successful that it will return, this time at a national level. In May, the Kiwanis Malaysia District will sponsor the Kiwanis Green Generation Adventure 2025, focusing on Key Club members in the district as they celebrate their organization’s 100th anniversary.

Family teamwork produces a new club

Family teamwork produces a new club

Apr 1, 2025 | Club building, General interest, Leadership | 0 comments

In Iceland, a longtime Kiwanian worked with his daughters to open a club.

By Guðlaugur “Gulli” Kristjánsson

The 2024-25 governor of the Iceland-Faroes District, Guðlaugur “Gulli” Kristjánsson (pictured above, right) joined Kiwanis in 1982. Over the next decade, his family grew with the births of three daughters — who are now the leaders of the Kiwanis Club of Hera in Iceland. We asked Kristjánsson, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Eldey, in Kopavogur, Iceland, to share his experience working to open a club with family members. 

Our district, like many Kiwanis districts, had drifted away from renewing our clubs by bringing in new members. The average age here had become way too high. My goal (as governor) was, among other things, to start a club with young members. When preparations began in December 2023, my daughters saw me looking at the various options, and they sat down with me one evening.  

They have all grown up in the Kiwanis spirit. They were involved with helping in local projects in one way or another, and in the fundraising campaign against maternal and neonatal tetanus. 

The eldest, Hildur, asked me whether she could be president of this new club if it became a reality, while Thorunn, my middle daughter, was prepared to be president-elect. Our youngest daughter, Hulda, was 17 at the time and had attended the Young Kiwanis Summit organized that year by Kiwanis International Europe.  

The task became much simpler with them by my side. All three of them have a lot of organizational ability, are very imaginative and really fun to work with. Soon, all three were immersed in the preparatory work — and by the fall, the group had grown to 15 enthusiastic young women. 

There were 19 members of the Kiwanis Club of Hera by the time of the introductory meeting on November 30, 2024. The average age was 37. Since then, four more have been added. And one person in this group is the mother of someone who was already in the club! 

In this club, there are pilots, flight attendants, kindergarten teachers, bankers and more — a wide range and a fun, cohesive group.  

I recommend talking to people who have been raised in a family of Kiwanis members about opening a Kiwanis club. It all starts by asking. 

5 tips for your club’s social media 

5 tips for your club’s social media 

Mar 25, 2025 | Club building, General interest | 0 comments

If posting feels like screaming into a void, try these ways of reaching a wider audience. 

By Erin Chandler

Social media is an excellent tool to spread the word about the ways Kiwanis serves communities. A strong social media presence can boost awareness, membership and event attendance for your club. Below are five tips for using your club’s social media accounts effectively — and getting your message out to the widest possible audience. 

  • Create a post — with pictures! — to celebrate every successful club project. What better way to advertise Kiwanis to your community than by showing your club in action? Whether you’re collecting and distributing donations, making school supply kits, cleaning up a park or hosting a pancake breakfast, celebrating your service in a social media post demonstrates that your club is active, fun and having a real impact. If the local media covers your project, you can also share the link to the news story. The more you post, the more people are likely to see your club’s service! 
  • Include key information about the project in the text of your post. If a potential new member or community partner stumbles across your post without prior knowledge of your club, what would you want them to know? In the text of your social media post, be sure to include your club’s name, a description of the project and the key message you want readers to know about it. You can also tag or link to partners you worked with. 
  • Use engaging photos. Instead of a picture of all your club members standing in a row, or of one person handing a check (even a giant check) to another, take photos that show your club and community members in action — smiling, interacting and taking part in the project. Give potential new members an idea of what being a Kiwanian is actually like. And make sure any Kiwanis logos on display are up to date! For more photo tips, see our PR tips and tools. 
  • Encourage club and community members to engage with your posts. The more people like, comment on and especially share your posts, the more people will see them. Lots of comments from members show the camaraderie in your club. Tag club members, your club’s official page and community partners in your post and/or photos, and encourage them to share the post on their own pages.  
  • Share your posts on the official Kiwanis Facebook group. You probably know about the official Kiwanis Facebook page. But do you know that we also have a group page where members can share their club’s news with Kiwanians around the world? Once you’re a member of the group, you can hit the “share” button at the bottom of a post on your personal or club page, then select “Group” and “Kiwanis International.” Sometimes we choose posts from the group page to share on official Kiwanis social media! (But remember: It’s a private group, so we can’t share posts directly from the group page — only posts you share from your club’s public page.)  

Bonus tip: Make sure the contact information on your social media page is up-to-date and check your messages often! Once your posts start drawing attention, potential new members and partners will contact you via the information on your page. 

For more resources and tips on how to publicize your club in all kinds of media, check out the Branding and Marketing page of our website.  We have social media graphics you can use, a guide to PR tips and tools and more!