Comments from Stew
“I joined Kiwanis in 1989 at the age of 39. At the time I was considered a very young member of a club of over 120 members. I missed many meetings the first couple of years and no one seemed to notice with such a large club. In my third year I was asked to run for the Board of Directors and was surprised to win. Once I was on the board I started to see a much bigger picture of Kiwanis. I really did not know there was so much more than what my local club did for our city.
I am running for Kiwanis International Vice President to continue to help others through altruism and good will while moving our great organization forward."
That same year I was part of Project Read in town and went to the Head Start building to read to young children. It was there that I had an emotional Kiwanis Moment that forever changed my life. In those few short weeks of reading to children I went from being a club member to a Kiwanian. We need to help members become Kiwanians by putting them in an environment that gives them the opportunity to grow and learn. We all know the difference between a member of a club and a Kiwanian and it is that difference that can lead to stability and growth of our Kiwanis family. For me Kiwanis is MAGIC…but not until I became a Kiwanian. As a member those first couple of years it was just one more meeting I had to attend.
My recent work with the KI Board Education Committee makes clear to me that the future of Kiwanis is developing more Kiwanians from our membership. Kiwanians can’t help but recruit new members, share their excitement with others, and move into leadership roles from club to district to international levels. Kiwanis is an amazing organization that does incredible service every day throughout the world. From the global Eliminate Project to a few Kiwanians reading to children at a library, we really do make a huge difference and not always one child and one community at a time. More often we aid hundreds of children and communities with our projects and service.
I am running for Kiwanis International Vice President to continue to help others through altruism and good will while moving our great organization forward. I want to celebrate the amazing work of Kiwanians throughout the world as we reach our 100th anniversary in 2015. As a professional trombonist, I am ready to “blow our horn” for Kiwanis. One definition of the term “Kiwanis” is “make a great noise.” I would love to make that great noise for the greatest service organization the world has ever known….KIWANIS!