Clubs on three continents got help with ambitious community projects. 

By Erin Chandler

Earlier this month, we looked at how three Kiwanis clubs in the United States have put their own spin on “classic” Kiwanis projects. But Kiwanis Children’s Fund grants are helping clubs all over the world achieve big things for their communities. 

Below, read about Kiwanis clubs in Asia, Africa and South America that have taken on ambitious projects to support the Kiwanis causes of health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development. 

Tampa Springs Water Project
Kiwanis Club of Mombasa, Kenya
The Kiwanis Club of Mombasa serves an area where 41,720 households had no reliable source of water. In partnership with the Asali Project, the club already has overseen the installation of a submersible pump and a building to house it, but club members still undertake most of the distribution efforts themselves. They carry water either in small carts or 20-liter jerricans to area schools and hospitals. A Children’s Fund grant will help purchase and maintain a water truck with a pump that will deliver water to eight hospitals, one clinic, four dispensaries, four secondary schools and 18 primary schools. Reliable access to clean water for drinking and sanitation will improve the health, school performance and self-esteem of over 60,000 children and spur economic growth in the area. 

Strengthening Kiwanis Doña Julia Kindergarten
Kiwanis Sultana del Valle Club Foundation, Colombia
In cooperation with local universities and the community action board, the Kiwanis Club of La Sultana del Valle has increased the capacity of Doña Julia Kindergarten from 40 to 80 students by reconstructing classrooms, a kitchen and other facilities. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will help with the next phase of the project: purchasing furniture, kitchen equipment and technology. The school will focus on providing education, nutrition and recreation to vulnerable children in the rural area of Cali. In partnership with universities, it will also offer programs on topics like mental health and healthy habits. 

Green Generation Adventure Camp 2025
Kiwanis Club of Klang, Malaysia
In 2024, the popularity of the Kiwanis Club of Klang’s first Green Generation Adventure Camp took club members by surprise — and they want to keep it going. The three-day camp guides 150 young people on the path to becoming the next generation of leaders in environmental stewardship, climate action and sustainable agriculture. Campers participate in interactive, educational workshops and activities on a farm in Malaysia’s tropical forest. In 2025, a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will help cover participation and transportation costs for kids from low-income families, especially those in urban areas who might not otherwise have the opportunity to take part in farming or forest hikes. Grant funds also will help cover the camp’s supplies, food and lodging, activity costs and program facilitators. 

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 Possibility Project.   

Three clubs received grants for “classic” Kiwanis projects — with a twist. 

By Erin Chandler 

Some service projects and fundraisers have become staples of Kiwanis clubs around the world. Three of the 18 projects that received Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grants in August put a club’s individual spin on one of these “Kiwanis classics.” Read more below — and think about how your club can make one of your traditional projects an event all your own. 

Healthy Kids, Healthy Adults
Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville, Texas, U.S.
Kiwanis clubs have a long history of building playgrounds for their communities. The Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville is putting its own twist on this classic project by building a playground-adjacent fitness station, allowing teens and adults to exercise while their kids play. This addition to the recently-renovated playground benefits the whole family — when kids can watch their older siblings, parents and guardians “play” on the knee-lift dip station, decline sit-up bench, step-up platforms, pull-up bars and more, they learn the value of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as they grow. A club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will go toward the purchase of the equipment, surrounding benches and sidewalks, and anchoring and surfacing materials. Club members will work with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to install and maintain the equipment. 

Charlevoix Elementary School Social Emotional Learning Library
Kiwanis Club of Charlevoix, Michigan, U.S.
The Kiwanis Club of Charlevoix is one of many literacy-focused clubs that have helped supply local schools with books for their libraries and for kids to take home. But as Charlevoix Elementary School implements its new social and emotional learning curriculum, the club discovered its library could benefit from an upgrade. The addition of a Social Emotional Learning Library at the school will help improve kids’ academic performance and overall wellbeing by addressing issues such as anxiety, depression and difficulties with social-emotional development. Thanks to a Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant, the library will be stocked with videos; software; weighted vests and blankets; sensory tools like stress balls, puzzles and coloring pages; calming lighting; and, of course, books addressing social and emotional issues, all based on instructor wish-lists and the recommendations of a committee made up of teachers, counselors, librarians, authors and more. Everything will be available for classrooms and for students and families to check out.  

Operation Rudolph 2025
Kiwanis Club of Madras, Oregon, U.S.
The Kiwanis Club of Madras is one of many Kiwanis clubs all over the world that spring into action during the holiday season, providing gifts to families that might not be able to afford them. Kiwanis club members have been running Operation Rudolph for over 30 years, purchasing and collecting donations of toys, games, crafts, clothes, hygiene products and more and distributing them through the Department of Human Services, the Latino Community Association, CASA and Mountain Star Relief Nursery. This year, a Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will help purchase items that are not typically donated, including warm winterwear, additional hygiene products and items for teens. But the club also turns Operation Rudolph into an opportunity for youth leadership development: Over 200 students take part in the project. Madras High School Key Club begins making gift kits in September, and members lead and mentor younger student volunteers through the process of wrapping hundreds of gifts. They even give suggestions for the setup and planning process.  

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.    

Find out about more projects that received club grants next week! 

From April through June, smaller clubs made a big impact through the Kiwanis Children’s Fund.

By Erin Chandler

In April, May and June, Kiwanis clubs around the world received Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrants for small projects that make a big impact on kids and families. The following three projects highlight some of the ways Kiwanis clubs are using microgrants to give young people of all ages a promising start in the Kiwanis cause areas of education and literacy, health and nutrition, and youth leadership development.   

Youth leadership development
Anchor House New Jersey Furniture Need
Kiwanis Club of Greater Monroe, New Jersey, U.S.
In 2024, Anchor House reached out to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Monroe for help upgrading the furnishings in its shelters, which provide safe housing and supportive services for children and young adults who are or are at risk of experiencing abuse, neglect or homelessness. A comfortable, welcoming environment bolsters residents’ sense of self-worth and ability to reach their potential. A Children’s Fund microgrant will help the club replace pieces that are damaged or worn with new chairs and couches for the therapy room, recreation room and library.  

Education and literacy
Full STEAM Ahead!
Kiwanis Club of Clintwood, Virginia, U.S.
The Kiwanis Club of Clintwood and the Ridgeview High School Key Club will work together to get local kids ages 5-16 interested in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) with a monthly hands-on program. A Children’s Fund microgrant will help fund subscriptions to three age-appropriate KiwiCo kits, which contain projects that help kids build, learn and have fun at the same time. Club volunteers will take the kits to community after-school and summer programs that are struggling to fund enrichment activities for kids. They will also guide the children through each month’s activity, sparking the creativity and inventiveness of tomorrow’s scientists, artists and engineers. 

Health and nutrition
Kiwanis Stuff the Strand 2025
Kiwanis Club of Plattsburgh, New York, U.S.
The Kiwanis Club of Plattsburgh brings a touch of drama to its annual food drive. The goal of this 2025 Signature Project Contest Top 10 event is to fill each of the 901 seats in the local Strand Theatre (see photo) with an increased weight of food each year. In 2024, the goal was to collect 7 pounds of food per seat, and members collected 20 pounds! Corporate and seat sponsorships increase the amount of food the club can contribute. This year, a Children’s Fund microgrant will help purchase baby food and baby formula, which are expensive and rarely in stock at local food pantries. Baby items also will be worth more points in the contest to see who can contribute the most donations. 

How you can help
To learn more about Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrants, visit kiwanis.org/microgrant-program.     

If you want to help the Children’s Fund provide grants like these that reach children around the world, you can make a gift to The Possibility Project. Your club also can apply for a grant to help kids in your community today.