Grants from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund are helping Kiwanis clubs around the world make sure children grow up with healthy brains and healthy bodies. In North America, South America, Africa and the Caribbean, clubs foster children’s education by providing safe, stable school environments and support their health by creating developmentally appropriate places to play. These projects support core Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, as well as literacy and education — and will help thousands of children learn new skills in ways that meet their individual needs.

Grants such as these are made possible by gifts to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. If you are interested in extending your and your club’s impact beyond your community through a gift to the Children’s Fund or in applying for a club grant, visit the Kiwanis Children’s Fund webpage.

A school for early learners

The Kiwanis Club of Young Professionals in Kingston, Jamaica, is setting out to make Maverley Mountain Basic School a more “stable, safe and comfortable learning environment” for its students. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will pay for paint and materials needed to install tiles and cupboards in classrooms. Club members will assist with tiling, painting, repairing and replacing windows and doors and installing cupboards, whiteboards, hand-washing stations and a stove for preparing hot meals. Each planned improvement addresses the health and educational needs of early learners in a community feeling the negative economic impacts of COVID-19.

A safe place to learn and grow

The Kiwanis Club of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda provides vital support to children who have fled their home countries to escape violence. With the help of a grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund, the club will positively impact the lives of 1,000 children through a school support program that will pay fees, provide supplies and uniforms and obtain learning aids for children with disabilities. Through the grant, the club also will help schools create gender-sensitive hygiene and water sanitation facilities; a health and nutrition program for students suffering from problems caused by HIV, malnutrition, abuse and neglect; and a leadership program that will encourage students to become cooperative participants and advocates in their new community.

Values education at home

A grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will help the Kiwanis Club of Atuntaqui, Ecuador, convert its Training in Values program into a print format to reach more students, including those who have trouble accessing the internet at home. The impact of COVID-19 has made the positive values taught by the program more essential than ever, while at the same time requiring that this information be adapted for distance learning. With the assistance of 42 teachers, as well as parents and guardians, the program will help 1,500 children become better students and leaders in their schools, families and communities.

A creative learning opportunity

The Kiwanis Club of Akron, Ohio, is teaming up with Akron Public Schools’ Builders and Key Club members for a hole-in-one project idea: designing nine miniature golf holes to entertain children at the 2022 Bridgestone Senior Players PGA Championship Tournament and the 2022 Winter Fest's Polar Putt-Putt. A grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will supply the lumber and materials, and students from three school clubs will design and build the nine holes. This program will create a fun and enriching activity for children in the community while involving Builders and Key Club members in every step of the process, teaching them valuable leadership, management, design and construction skills. They will even be invited to volunteer at the events, where they will see their work in action.

A new playground

The mayor and police chief of Kalama, Washington, and the superintendent of Woodland Public Schools are all members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Woodland Kalama, so the club has a strong sense of what the community needs most. Members plan to install a new play structure at Kalama City Park, where the existing playground equipment is unusable due to safety concerns. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant will help purchase new equipment, and the city will partner with the club on installation. Once the revitalized playground opens, 300 children will once again have a safe place to play.

A recreational space for teens

The Kiwanis Club of Snohomish in Washington is doing its part to complete the city’s refurbishment and expansion of the Averill Field playground and recreational area by adding a fitness and activity space specifically for teens. A club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund will go toward equipment, including climbing structures and places to sit and socialize. Wherever possible, the equipment will be ADA compliant. Soon, 5,000 children aged 13 and older will be able to enjoy this area tailored to their fitness and activity needs.

Area clubs unite

The Kiwanis Club of Downtown Spokane in Washington is combining efforts with the 11 other Spokane-area Kiwanis clubs to fund a playground for Joya Child and Family Development. Joya is the only early-intervention center in the Spokane community for children with special physical and neurological needs. A Kiwanis Children’s Fund club grant will provide adaptive playground equipment for the organization’s new facility, which aims to more than double the number of children and families it serves. Kiwanians from the Spokane-area clubs will volunteer regularly at the facility once it opens.

Does your club have a project that could benefit from a Children’s Fund grant? Go here to learn more. 

Gifts from Kiwanis clubs and members make these grants possible. Give now!