Grants help make club projects special 

Grants help make club projects special 

Sep 3, 2025 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, Service projects | 0 comments

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! 

Microgrants jumpstart kids’ futures

Microgrants jumpstart kids’ futures

Aug 5, 2025 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, Service projects | 0 comments

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.

 

Key Club projects bring proms, plants and paint

Key Club projects bring proms, plants and paint

Jul 29, 2025 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, Service Leadership Programs, Service projects | 0 comments

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.