News | Kiwanis International

Celebrating success at the Marketplace

Aug 30, 2023 | Fundraising, News | 0 comments

A Kiwanis club in Arizona, U.S., invited the community to help mark a fundraising anniversary.

By Tony Knoderer

The Kiwanis Club of Carefree, Arizona, U.S., celebrated the ninth anniversary of its Kiwanis Marketplace with local business leaders on August 10. Located in the nearby town of Cave Creek, the Marketplace was the site of an event that the club cohosted with the Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce, which invited local business leaders to join the anniversary celebration.

Kiwanis Marketplace itself is nine years old, but the Carefree Kiwanis Club has been raising funds by giving locals a place to shop, donate and volunteer for more than four decades. The idea originated in the early 1980s, when the club started fundraising with garage sales.

“It actually started out in a two-car garage,” says Geno Orrico, a longtime club member, past president and current volunteer.

The garage sales were a hit — so much so that the club was able to award its first scholarship in 1986 for US$500.

Realizing the potential of these sales, the club struck a deal with the Town of Carefree in 1999 to build a 3,000-square-foot, US$100,000 building on town land with a 20-year lease.

According to Alex Perez, general manager of Kiwanis Marketplace, the club eventually started raising money to buy land and build a new location. More than US$1.2 million had been raised, he says, when the perfect 18,000-square-foot building became available. The club purchased the building and opened what is now the Kiwanis Marketplace.

“When it first started, there were zero employees and about 150 volunteers,” Perez says. “It was open four days a week for four hours a day, and it made just under a million dollars. Then it grew and grew — and now today there are 14 employees and around 100 volunteers that come and help. Last year we did over US$2.25 million in sales.”

Orrico adds that many volunteers have been around since the beginning.

“It gives you a sense of giving back to the community, and I think that goes for all the volunteers — they feel a sense of self-worth,” he says. “We also have some folks that come here every single day to see what treasures they can get.”

Thanks to the funds from Kiwanis Marketplace, the Kiwanis Club of Carefree donated more than US$1.2 million last year, sponsoring local school programs, projects such as Family Fun Days at the Cave Creek Museum and renovations at Desert Foothills YMCA. The club has also given US$500,000 to the Kiwanis Scholarship Program in 2023.

Katrina Baranko elected 2023-24 president of Kiwanis International

Aug 16, 2023 | Leadership, News | 1 comment

Elections also brought new trustees and the selection of Lee Kuan Yong as president-elect.

By Debra Des Vignes

Katrina J. Baranko of Albany, Georgia, U.S., was elected president of the board of trustees at the 2023 Kiwanis International Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Lee Kuan Yong of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, was chosen to be president-elect. They begin their new terms on October 1, 2023.

Michael Mulhaul of Interlaken, New Jersey, U.S., was elected vice president of the organization.

These three Kiwanians were elected trustees for the United States and Pacific Canada Region:

Dennis Baugh, Palmyra, Virginia, U.S.
Matthew Cantrall, Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
Cathleen Ann “Cathy” Tutty, Butte, Montana, U.S.

Chang-Ching Hsu of Tainan City, Taiwan, was elected during the Asia-Pacific convention in March to represent the Asia-Pacific Region as a Kiwanis International trustee.

Mohan Lamsal, Kathmandu, Nepal, was elected as an at-large trustee.

The House of Delegates voted on one proposed amendment to the Kiwanis International Bylaws. The delegates voted against a proposal put forth by the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees to increase members’ annual dues to help address a growing deficit.

The delegates also voted to approve a modernization of the Kiwanis International Bylaws.

From time to time, every organization should conduct a comprehensive review of its governing documents and make appropriate adjustments. The last such review of the Kiwanis International Bylaws took place 30 years ago. A special global committee spent two years conducting a new review. Their recommended changes were presented as a special type of amendment called a revision.

Most changes simply moved text, improved clarity or updated language to reflect current processes, with no change to the way Kiwanis does business. Substantive changes were removed and addressed individually at the 2022 Kiwanis International Convention.

2023-24 Kiwanis International President Katrina Baranko of Albany, Georgia, U.S., has been a member of Kiwanis for 29 years and served the Kiwanis Club of Albany as distinguished president and secretary. She also served as membership chair and as a member of the board of directors. At the district level, Baranko was a distinguished governor, lieutenant governor and member of the finance committee, and she has been parliamentarian. She is also a certified club leadership trainer and has presented at three Kiwanis International conventions. She has received the district Leadership Medallion and has served as chair of the Past District Governor’s Association, as well as chair of the 2007 Georgia District Convention, the Training and Education Committee and the Youth Services Committee. She and her husband, David, have a son, a daughter-in-law and one grandson.

Lee Kuan Yong joined Kiwanis in 1993, served as a Kiwanis International trustee in 2011-14 and was the Asia-Pacific chair in 2016-17. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysia District and Eye of the Tiger eKiwanis Club in the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District. He has also served as president of the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation, Malaysia. He and his wife, Kon Cze Yan, have two sons and one grandson. He will serve as president of Kiwanis International in 2024-25.

The 2024 Kiwanis International Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado, July 3-6.

Drum corps competition and fundraiser marches into third decade

Jul 26, 2023 | News | 0 comments

In Mankato, Minnesota, the Kiwanis Thunder of Drums draws up to 2,500 people each year.

By Julie Saetre

July evenings are generally quiet in Mankato, Minnesota, U.S., a riverside city in the southern part of the state. But for the last three-plus decades, one night has brought the noise: Kiwanis Thunder of Drums. Sponsored by the Mankato Kiwanis Club, the event is one in a series of competitions held by the nonprofit Drum Corps International (DCI).

Drum corps are marching bands that include only brass instrumentation ― you won’t see anyone playing flutes, clarinets, saxophones or other woodwinds. They’re also independent organizations, each with a limit of 150 members. (Marching bands sponsored by schools and universities include woodwinds and often are open to anyone who wants to play.)

For Mankato Kiwanians, it all started in the early 1990s. A club member’s son played in the Madison Scouts, which is a DCI founding member and two-time DCI World Champion title holder. So, the Kiwanians thought: Why not bring a drum corps competition to Mankato so the Madison Scouts can participate?

It was also an opportunity for the club, says Doug Foust, a member and head of the Thunder of Drums organizing committee.

“A part of it is that any proceeds above and beyond what it costs us to put on this show would support our various Kiwanis projects,” he says. “It seemed like a natural fit.”

The Mankato 77 Lancers, a music and marching program for Mankato Area Public Schools students, joined in as a partner and also benefits from event proceeds.

After a two-year interruption because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thunder triumphantly returned in 2022 and will take place for the 31st time this July 11. Around 2,500 guests attend each year.

Community support and partnership has been a key to Thunder’s longevity. The University of Minnesota provides use of its Blakeslee Stadium. Area high schools open cafeterias, gyms and football fields for participants to eat, sleep and practice. Others volunteer their services, from graphic design students who design and print marketing materials to a certified athletic trainer/emergency medical technician who is on hand in case of an injury or illness.

A local television station even supplies thousands of dollars’ worth of free advertising.

“It takes all of these folks in the community to really make this a success,” Foust says. “We’ve built up some really good partnerships. It makes putting on the show relatively easy year after year.”