The Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded 31 Youth Opportunities Fund grants to Key Clubs in April. 

By Erin Chandler 

This year, Key Club International is celebrating 100 years of making a difference in schools and communities around the world. The Kiwanis Children’s Fund established the Youth Opportunities Fund so Key Club leaders can continue taking action for the next 100 years and beyond.   

In April, the Children’s Fund awarded Youth Opportunities Fund grants for 31 Key Club projects that combat food insecurity, create memorable experiences for kids with disabilities, bolster mental health and more. Here are the top 10 projects (in alphabetical order by club name) as determined by the Key Club International Board committee and Children’s Fund representatives:  

Painting Palooza
Beckman High School Key Club, California, U.S.
Last year, with help from a Youth Opportunities Fund grant, Beckman High School Key Club’s adaptive, step-by-step art event was so successful that it’s coming back by popular demand — and with another YOF grant! The two-hour Painting Palooza is tailored to kids with autism and other special needs, with trained volunteers to assist, calm and guide young artists through creating their own paintings to take home. This year, the club hopes to make Painting Palooza bigger and better than ever, including additional side activities for the kids and an area where parents can socialize.  

Courtyard Renovation and Revitalization
Haslett High School Key Club, Michigan, U.S.
Haslett High School’s overgrown courtyard will get a new lease on life as an outdoor classroom thanks to the Key Club and a Youth Opportunities Fund grant. Working with Haslett High School’s Sustainability Club and National Honors Society, as well as Haslett Middle School’s Builders Club and Conservation Club, Key Club members will level the area, fill in a pond, cultivate a native plant and pollinator garden, and install seating so students and teachers can use the courtyard to hold classes, study and socialize. Grant funds will help purchase grass seed, mulch, picnic table kits and plants. 

Teens Toward Zero Deaths
Lincoln Senior High School Key Club, Minnesota, U.S.
The Lincoln Senior High School Key Club works with the local chapter of Toward Zero Deaths to get teens involved in promoting traffic safety and eliminating mental health stigmas. The club hosts an annual conference where hundreds of teens actively participate in discussions with law enforcement, drug task forces, first responders, healthcare workers, engineers, funeral directors and mental health professionals to help shape policies and strategies to reduce fatalities in the community. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will support this growing conference, expanded programming for fifth- and eighth-grade students, and stickers and signs to help spread safety awareness. 

Cotton Candy for Mental Health Awareness
Los Alamos High School Key Club, New Mexico, U.S.
The Los Alamos High School Key Club — with help from the Los Alamos Middle School Builders Club — is known in the community for spinning and selling cotton candy at Friday night concerts in the summer. Members have already raised thousands of dollars in recent years for a fentanyl harm reduction event, distribution of overdose-reversing medication and wildfire relief. This year, a Youth Opportunities Fund grant will go toward the purchase of new candy machines, floss sugar and other supplies so the club can sell their sugary wares at more events. Next they will raise money for mental health and stress awareness programs for middle and high school students. 

Tiny Seeds, Big Impact
Metro Early College High School Key Club, Ohio, U.S.
Members of the Metro Early College High School Key Club will work to address food insecurity in their own community with their “Tiny Seeds, Big Impact” project. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will go toward the purchase of enough seeds and pots to grow approximately 144 tomato plants. Club members will be responsible for potting, watering and transplanting the growing plants, as well as providing written instructions for continued care. At the end of the school year, local food pantry Neighborhood Services, Inc. will distribute the plants to people facing food insecurity, giving hundreds access to fresh tomatoes.  

Rise Against Hunger Event
Monsignor Kelly High School Key Club, Texas, U.S.
A Youth Opportunities Fund grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help cover the fees for a Rise Against Hunger event in the Monsignor Kelly High School gym, hosted by the school’s Key Club. In February, volunteers from the school and community will gather to package 10,000 meals of rice, soy, vegetables and vitamins for those experiencing food insecurity around the world. Over several hours, the volunteers will race to see who can package the most meals while facilitators from Rise Against Hunger educate them about the effects of global hunger and malnutrition. 

Special Needs Prom
Pell City High School Key Club, Alabama, U.S.
Once again, the Pell City High School Key Club is holding a prom for students with disabilities who might not be able to attend a traditional prom. And once again, a Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help make it bigger and better than ever — expanding to include students from other area schools; increasing accessibility with noise-canceling headphones and sensory-friendly spaces; and providing more decorations, refreshments and photo opportunities. Volunteers from Key Club and Circle K International also will be trained to offer support as “peer buddies” for attendees, ensuring a fun evening where everyone belongs. 

Senior Prom for Seniors
Saint Joseph High School Key Club, Michigan, U.S.
No, that project name isn’t redundant — every spring, the Saint Joseph High School Key Club gives residents at a local retirement home the chance to relive their high school proms. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help the club bring in a band, dance floor, refreshments, door prizes, pictures and a chocolate fountain. Then it’s time for intergenerational bonding as senior citizens and Key Club volunteers don their finest, dance the night away and, of course, crown a prom king and queen. The project has been so successful that Key Club members have gone on to be regular volunteers at the retirement home and launched a project to record residents’ life stories. 

Bundles of Joy
St. Joseph’s Convent Key Club, Saint Lucia
More babies will have a healthy start in life thanks to the Key Club of St. Joseph’s Convent. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help the club purchase essential newborn care supplies — diapers, wipes, blankets, onesies, bottles, formula and more — that will go into care packages for new parents at the hospital. In a time when Saint Lucia’s hospitals are facing financial constraints, club members hope their care packages will ensure babies get the care they need, support new parents and reduce stress on healthcare workers. 

Empowerment Through Care — Strathmore Children’s Home Initiative
York Castle High School Key Club, Saint Ann, Jamaica
The members of York Castle High School Key Club are reaching out to help vulnerable children in their community with support from a Youth Opportunities Fund grant. The club pledges to revitalize Strathmore Children’s Home with new security gates, paint, tiles and a community garden. Members also will provide essential supplies such as food and hygiene products. Altogether, this initiative will make Strathmore Children’s Home a safer and more welcoming place for residents and staff for years to come. 

How to get involved
Does your Key Club have a project idea that could benefit from a Youth Opportunities Fund grant? Learn more about the grant and how to apply. If your club does not yet sponsor a Key Club, discover the advantages of chartering one.   

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

By Erin Chandler 

In January, February and March, Kiwanis clubs around the world received Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrants for small projects that will make a big impact on kids and families. Microgrants are helping clubs teach kids how to be safe in swimming pools and when crossing the street, providing school supplies for students and teachers, and more.  

The following three projects highlight some of the ways Kiwanis clubs are using microgrants to help young people in need keep up with their peers in the Kiwanis cause areas of education and literacy, health and nutrition, and youth leadership development.  

Health and Nutrition
Huellas Seguras (Secure Footprints)
Kiwanis Club of Las Claras, Panama
One of the most common reasons students dropped out of Las Claras Arriba Rural and Multigrade School was the weather. Heavy rains exacerbated by climate change make it difficult for students to walk barefoot — as many do — over long distances on slippery roads to get to school. However, the Kiwanis Club of Las Claras saw that this was a relatively easy problem to solve, especially with a little help. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant will go toward the purchase of 100 pairs of rubber boots and waterproof capes, which will be distributed to students through the local development board and the school’s parents’ association. The club hopes to see a boost in consistent attendance rates once the students have rain gear protecting their health and safety on the way to school. 

Education and Literacy
Reading is Fundamental Book Giveaway
Kiwanis Club of Highland, Indiana, U.S.
Thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Highland and a Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant, kids who aren’t able to purchase books from the Scholastic Book Fair still get to take home a brand-new Scholastic Book. Every year around the time of the book fair, Kiwanians visit the six area schools. They read to the kindergarten classes and tell the students about K-Kids, which they’ll be eligible to join in the third grade. Then each child gets to select a book purchased by the club from Scholastic Books, a Kiwanis partner. It’s a great way for kids to grow — or start — their home library. A favorite among club members, the project has already helped hundreds of kids get excited about reading. 

Youth Leadership Development
Calm Corners for Kids
Kiwanis Club of Freeport Golden K, Illinois, U.S.
At Jones-Farrar School, members of Builders Club — the Kiwanis Service Leadership Program for students age 12-14 — learned that not every school had spaces set aside to help students practice mindfulness and relaxation when needed. So they decided to do something about it — and the Kiwanis Club of Freeport Golden K pledged to help. Now a Kiwanis Children’s Fund microgrant will help these two Kiwanis family clubs work together to create three Calm Corners at local community centers. The Corners will be supplied with weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, floor cushions, sensory toys and other tools to help kids manage their emotions, reduce stress and develop self-regulation skills. The club will also provide training resources for Calm Corner volunteers and informational resources for parents. Each Corner will be codesigned with the kids who will use it. This initiative fosters the servant leadership of the Jones-Farrar Builders Club and helps more kids develop the mental and emotional resilience they will need as leaders of tomorrow. 

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.